IMMIGRATION, 


AND  THK 


COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION 


of       to 


EEIEDEIOH     KAP.P, 


ONE  OP  THE  SAID  COMMISSIONERS. 


NEW    YOEK: 
THE    NATION    PRESS,    27    ROSE    STREET. 

1870. 


TO  LEOPOLD  BIERWIRTH,   ESQ. 


IN  public  and  private  life,  you  have,  for  more  than  forty  years  in  this 
your  adopted  country,  labored  to  promote  the  welfare  of  this  community, 
and  to  benefit  humanity  at  large. 

It  was  your  good  fortune  to  assist  in  suggesting  and  initiating  the 
reforms  which  are  treated  of  in  the  following  pages.  It  was  your  privilege 
to  be  instrumental  in  inaugurating  the  new  era,  signalled  by  the  formation 
of  the  Board  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration.  Of  this  body  you  were 
a  highly  honored  member  during  the  first  two  years  of  its  existence,  setting 
as  such  an  example  worthy  of  emulation  by  your  successors.  Although 
you  withdrew  a  long  time  ago  from  active  participation  in  their  official 
duties,  you  have  continued  to  work  with  undiminished  zeal  and  energy  in 
furtherance  of  the  interests  of  which  they  are  the  custodians. 

In  view  of  this,  and  as  an  expression  of  my  respect  and  friendship,  I 
dedicate  to  you  this  essay. 

FRIEDRICn  KAPP. 

NEW  YORK,  February,  1870. 


PREFACE. 


HAVING  resided  for  the  past  twenty  years  at  the  greatest  im 
migrant  port  in  the  world,  and  having  been  led  by  my  official 
duties  during  a  portion  of  this  time  to  pay  particular  attention 
to  the  subject  of  emigration,  I  have  been  induced  to  enter  into 
a  somewhat  extended  study  of  this  important  question.  The 
result  of  my  researches  is  now  laid  before  the  public. 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  about  emigration,  its  causes, 
aims,  and  results,  but,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  the  writers  on 
this  subject  have  dwelt  more  upon  their  own  theories  and  conjec 
tures  than  upon  facts  and  events.  In  the  physical  world,  it  is 
manifestly  impossible  to  build  a  house  without  having  laid  a 
foundation ;  yet,  in  the  intellectual  world,  people  too  often  reason 
and  philosophize  upon  political  and  social  questions  without  hav 
ing  made  that  careful  investigation  of  facts  which  is  the  only 
sure  foundation  of  accurate  reasoning. 

The  present  essay  on  immigration  is  chiefly  confined  to  the 
narration  of  facts,  and  it  is  only  here  and  there  that  I  have  given 
the  conclusions  which  have  seemed  to  me  to  be  their  natural 
result.  Parts  of  it  have  already  been  laid  before  the  public  in  a 
paper  read  in  this  city,  on  the  27th  of  October,  1869,  before  the 
American  Social  Science  Association. 

The  emigration  of  European  masses  to  this  country  is  still  in 
its  infancy,  and  yet  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  collect 
and  preserve  the  materials  relating  to  it.  If  I  have  succeeded  in 


ii  PREFACE. 

saving  any  which  without  my  researches  might,  perhaps,  have 
perished,  I  have  accomplished  my  purpose.  I  trust  that  they 
may  facilitate  for  the  future  historian  the  study  and  appreciation 
of  this  interesting  subject. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  youngest  nation  that  has  made 
its  appearance  on  the  historical  stage  is  singularly  deficient  in 
that  historical  spirit  which  characterizes  true  civilization.  Ger 
many,  France,  England,  and  Italy  are  laboring  more  earnestly 
for  the  preservation  of  the  records  of  their  barbarism  than  the 
United  States  for  the  illustration  of  its  unbroken  record  of  civil 
ization.  How  can  this  lack  of  interest  be  explained  ?  Is  it  that 
the  task  of  the  hour  makes  Americans  blind  to  all  things  else  ? 
Is  it  that  so  much  is  still  to  be  done  that  no  time  is  left  for  the 
consideration  of  what  has  been  done  ?  Be  it  as  it  may,  it  is  a 
melancholy  fact  and  seriously  detrimental  to  the  most  vital  inte 
rests  of  the  nation.  People  look  with  indifference  at  this  colos 
sal  immigration  of  the  European  masses,  whose  presence  alone 
will  exercise  a  powerful  influence  on  the  destinies  of  the  "Western 
World ;  National  and  State  legislators  care  little  or  nothing  for 
the  direction  which  is  given  to  this  foreign  element,  and  forget 
that  their  own  welfare  and  the  welfare  of  their  children  is  indis- 
solubly  interwoven  with  the  condition  of  the  new-comers.  In 
short,  they  are  not  yet  aroused  to  the  great  importance  of 
emigration,  of  its  laws  and  its  development,  but  consider  it 
rather  with  an  incredulous  curiosity  than  with  an  earnest  desire 
to  fathom  its  resources  and  foresee  its  results. 

My  principal  sources  of  information  have  been  the  minutes 
and  the  annual  reports  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 
which,  wherever  it  was  possible,  I  have  quoted  in  their  own  Ian- 


PREFACE.  iii 

guage ;  the  proceedings  of  the  Common  Council  of  New  York 
City,  the  reports  of  the  Comptrollers  of  this  city,  and  the  papers 
and  official  acts  of  the  United  States  Senate  and  of  the  State 
Legislature  at  Albany.  I  have  not  given  my  authorities,  as  I 
cannot  suppose  that  they  are  accessible  to  any  of  my  readers,  but 
the  correctness  of  the  statements  is  susceptible  of  verification, 
and  may  be  implicitly  relied  upon. 

I  gratefully  acknowledge  the  important  services  rendered  me 
by  Mr.  Bernard  Casserly,  the  efficient  General  Agent  of  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration,  who  is  familiar  with  all  the  minutiae 
of  the  service,  and  the  history  of  the  Board  for  which  he  has 
labored  ever  since  its  creation  with  intelligence  and  zeal.  I  am 
also  under  special  obligations  to  Mr.  Andrew  Carrigan  and  Mr. 
Thurlow  "Weed  for  the  very  interesting  information  contained  in 
Chapter  Y.  Mr.  Weed,  although  confined  to  his  chamber  by  ill 
ness,  assisted  me  with  his  valuable  advice,  and  gave  me  important 
information  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Commission. 

I  am  likewise  indebted  to  my  friends,  Mr.  Henry  Yillard,  of 
Boston,  the  able  Secretary  of  the  American  Social  Science  Asso 
ciation,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Burke,  of  this  city,  for  the  revision  of 
my  manuscript ;  to  Mr.  Charles  Goepp  for  the  greater  part  of 
Chapter  IX.,  and  to  several  officers  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emi 
gration,  among  whom  I  would  name  Mr.  George  "VY.  Wheeler, 
Col.  L.  Cantador,  Mr.  A.  II.  Hicks,  and  Dr.  A.  Eeimer,  for  the 
readiness  with  which  they  have  supplied  me  with  copies  of 
important  tables  and  other  necessary  documents. 

FEIEDEICH  KAPP. 

6  MANSFIELD  PLACE,  NEW  YORK, 
February  24, 1870. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Historical  Introduction— Law  of  Emigration— The  United  States  the  Favorite  Land  of 
the  Emigrant, 5 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Sea  Voyage, 19 

CHAPTER  HI. 
Bonding  and  Commuting — Private  Hospitals  for  Immigrants, 41 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Arrival  in  New  York — Runners — Boarding-Houses — Inland  Voyage, 61 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New  York,         ....      85 

1  CHAPTER  VI. 

Castle  Garden, 105 

CHAPTER  VH. 
Ward's  Island, 125 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Capital  Value  of  Immigration  to  this  Country — Its  Influence  on  the  Population  and  the 
Nation's  Wealth— Is  Immigration  a  Matter  of  State  or  National  Concern  ?     .       .       .142 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Immigration  as  Affected  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 162 

APPENDIX. 

I.  Sufferings  of  Emigrants  while  at  Sea, 183 

II.  Protection  of  Immigrants  and  care  taken  of  them, 196 

III.  The  Inland  Voyage,  and  Booking  of  Passengers  in  Europe, 200 

IV.  Rules  and  Regulations, 211 

V.  An  Act  for  the  More  Effectual  Protection  of  Emigrants  arriving  at  the  Port  of  New 

York 223 

VI.  Members  of  the  Commission, 224 

VH.  Statistical  Tables,          ....  ...    227 


IMMIGRATION  TO  NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER   I. 

HISTORICAL     INTRODUCTION LAW    OF    EMIGRATION THE    UNITED 

STATES   THE   FAVORITE   LAND   OF   THE    EMIGRANT. 

FROM  the  remotest  ages  down  to  the  present  day,  from  thecjjjgoj>' 
first  Phoenician  and  Greek  colonies  down  to  the  settlement  of 
the  K~orth  Pacific  coast,  two  principal  causes  have  always  induced 
emigration  and  led  to  the  establishment  of  new  states  and  em 
pires,  viz.,  political  or  religious  oppression  and  persecution,  and 
social  evils,  such  as  want  of  prosperity  or  insecurity,  lack  of  em 
ployment,  famine,  and  high  prices  of  living  in  general.  In  mod 
ern  times,  either  of  these  causes  has  proved  powerful  enough  to 
produce  emigration  on  a  large  scale  from  certain  countries.  Peo 
ple  who  are  happy  and  comfortable  at  home  do  not  emigrate;  the 
poor  and  oppressed  only,  who  cannot  find  a  fair  reward  for  their 
labor  in  the  land  of  their  birth,  or  who  feel  themselves  obstructed 
and  thwarted  in  their  religious  or  political  aspirations,  seek  to 
better  their  condition  by  a  change  of  country. 

The  territory  which  constitutes  the  present  United  States  owes 
its  wonderful  development  mainly  to  the  conflux  of  the  poor  and 
outcast  of  Europe  within  it.  The  adventurers  who  discovered 
and  first  settled  it  belonged  to  the  feudal  aristocracy  of  Europe. 
Being  neither  able  nor  willing  to  work,  they  failed  and  perished, 
and  gave  way  to  the  so-called  lower  classes  of  society — to  the 
sturdy  farmer  and  the  industrious  mechanic.  Feeble  as  their  efforts 
were  in  the  beginning,  the  toils  and  sufferings,  the  patience  and 


C  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

perseverance  of  these  voluntary  and  involuntary  exiles  have,  in 
a  comparatively  short  time,  built  up  a  powerful  commonwealth, 
the  proud  structure  of  this  Republic,  which  in  itself  is  the  glori 
fication,  the  epopee  of  free  and  intelligent  labor. 

Scttony  ^S  The  immigration  of  Europeans  in  large  masses  into  America, 
I9thcentury  however,  is  of  a  more  recent  date,  an  outgrowth  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  It  is  true,  in  earlier  periods,  immigrants  also  found 
their  way  to  the  European  possessions  in  the  New  World,  but 
their  number  at  any  given  time  was  comparatively  small.  There 
arrived  during  the  whole  year,  in  all  the  American  colonies, 
hardly  as  many  as  -land  now  on  one  summer  day  in  the  city  of 
New  York  alone.  During  the  first  century  of  the  settlement  of 
the  country  by  the  English  and  the  Dutch,  a  few  hundred  new 
immigrants  attracted  the  public  attention  of  the  whole  colony, 
and  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century  the  arrival  of  two  ships 
laden  with  Germans,  on  one  day,  created  quite  a  sensation  in 
New  York. 

neasons  there  The  reasons  for  this  numerical  difference  are  obvious.  Com 
munication  between  Europe  and  America  was  in  its  infancy. 
During  the  favorable  season  of  the  year,  a  vessel  now  and  then 
sailed  from  an  English,  Dutch,  or  French  port  for  America. ,  No 
Continental  country  had  any  intercourse  with  the  then  English  col 
onies  except  by  way  of  England.  The  trips  required  seldom  less 
than  eight  weeks.  Their  regular  time  was  from  three  to  'four 
months,  but  very  often  the  passage  occupied  six  months  and  more. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  horizon  of  the  European  masses  did  not 
extend  beyond  their  native  village  and  its  immediate  neighbor 
hood.  The  great  majority  of  the  people  were  too  poor,  too  de 
graded  even  to  conceive  the  idea  of  throwing  off  their  shackles, 
of  trying,  at  least,  to  run  away  from  their  misery  to  the  New 
World.  The  two  countries,  which  were  then,  as  they  are  riow, 
the  principal  sources  of  emigration,  viz.,  Germany  and  Ireland, 
furnished  a  small  number  only.  /In  South-western  Germany,  emi 
gration  on  a  large  scale  commenced  in  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  in  consequence  of  wars,  famine,  and  religious 
persecutions  ;\  but,  during  the  whole  century,  only  from  80,000  to 
100,000  Germans  settled  in  America.  Ireland  did  not  send  forth 
as  many  tens  as  it  does  now  thousands. 


HISTOEICAL  INTRODUCTION.  7 

This  essay  will  be  confined  to  the  fort  of  New  York,  and, 
when  the  contrary  is  not  expressly  stated,  it  treats  of  immigration 
in  connection  with  New  York  only. 

The  present  metropolis  of  American  commerce,  although  one  Coc™™ 
of  the  oldest  cities  built  by  European  emigrants,  had  become  amuts  origin. 
more  than  two  hundred  years  old  before  she  assumed  the  leading- 
part  in  the  trade  of  the  country.  According  to  the  first  census, 
taken  in  1790,  the  State  of  New  York  was  the  fifth  in  population, 
and  ranked  even  after  Massachusetts  and  North  Carolina.  In 
1800,  it  rose  to  the  third ;  1810,  to  the  second,  and  only  in  1820 
to  the  first  position,  which  it  has  since  maintained.  The  city  of 
New  York  kept  even  pace  with,  the  State.  During  the  first  ten 
years  of  the  present  century,  she  was  inferior  to  Philadelphia,  the 
then  largest  city  in  the  United  States,  in  population  and  com 
merce.  In  1820,  she  numbered,  for  the  first  time,  a  few  thousand 
inhabitants  more  than  the  Quaker  City;  but,  in  the  decade  of  1820 
to  1830,  she  established  her  superiority  beyond  any  doubt.  The  The  Erie  canal, 
noble  work  of  her  great  statesman,  De  Witt  Clinton,  viz.,  the 
connection  of  the  Atlantic  with  the  great  lakes  by  a  canal,  car 
ried  out  between  1817  and  1825,  proved  the  firm  basis  on  which 
New  York  City  built  her  all-controlling  influence  and  power,  al 
ways  steadily  advancing  and  never  receding,  and  to-day  mightier 
than  ever  before.  Had  there  been  no  De  Witt  Clinton,  had  there 
been  no  Erie  Canal,  in  vain  would  have  been  the  central  position 
and  commercial  advantages  of  this  city.  She  was  not  the  first 
city  of  America  until  her  great  men  gave  artificial  extension  and 
development  to  those  advantages,  and  thereby  fixed  on  her,  for 
centuries,  the  honored  advantage  of  being  the  emporium  of  the 
Western  "World.  If  she  is  to  maintain  this  position,  she  will  do 
it  because  she  will  have  great  men  continually  able  to  keep  her 
in  advance.  As  she  has  seized  the  canal,  telegraph,  and  railroad 
and  pressed  them  into  her  services,  so  she  must  be  ready,  as  new 
inventions  are  presented,  to  seize  them  and  turn  them  to  hef 
advantage.  Prior  to  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  New  York 
had  but  a  small  number,  if  any,  of  staple  articles  which  she  could 
export.  Even  ten  years  expired  after  that  event  before  she  could 
compete  with  the  other  harbors  of  the  Eastern  coast.  Charleston 
had  her  cotton,  rice,  and  indigo,  for  which  European  vessels  prefer- 


8  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

red  her  port ;  Baltimore  was  the  centre  of  the  tobacco  trade  for 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Ohio ;  Philadelphia  monopolized  the 
greater  portion  of  the  coasting  business ;  but  New  York  had  first  to 
build  up  her  export  trade.  The  interior  was  not  sufficiently  de 
veloped  to  offer  commodities  for  European  markets ;  even  wheat, 
which  forms  in  our  days  one  of  the  most  important  export  sta 
ples,  was  imported  from  the  Baltic  and  Portugal  as  late  as  the 
Exports,  years  1836  to  1838.  About  1830,  New  York  commenced  with 
the  export  of  whale  oil,  which  the  whalers  brought  to  New  Bed 
ford,  Sag  Harbor,  and  smaller  ports,  where  it  was  purchased  by 
New  York  merchants  for  shipment  to  Europe.  Tobacco  soon  fol 
lowed,  which  was  sent  to  New  York  from  the  interior,  and,  in 
consequence  of  the  Tobacco  Inspection  established  in  1834,  could 
be  assorted  and  purchased  here  just  as  well  as  in  Baltimore  and 
Richmond.  Every  subsequent  year  added  a  new  article  of  ex 
port.  Philadelphia,  once  paramount  to  New  York,  did  not  follow 
the  latter  in  the  path  of  progress,  and  European  merchants  be 
came  every  year  more  satisfied  that  they  would  find  at  all  times 
ready  return  freights  from  New  York,  and  for  this  reason  they 
preferred  it  before  all  other  Atlantic  ports.  Thus,  with  her  daily 
growing  commerce,  with  her  better  facilities  for  shipping  and 
freighting,  and  with  her  better  inland  communications,  she  natu 
rally  attracted  more  emigrants  than  any  other  port  of  the  Union, 
and  entered  upon  the  second  third  of  the  present  century  as  the 
great  receiving  depot  of  European  immigration. 

immigration  in       The  facts  connected  with  the  immigration  of  the  seventeenth 
Surfe l™-  and  eighteenth  centuries  are  only  imperfectly  known  to  us,  and 
d  have  almost  exclusively  an  historical  interest  for  the  present  gen 
eration.     They  can  be  explained  in  a  few  short  paragraphs. 

Under  the  Dutch  rule  (1625-1664)  emigrants  were  attracted 
by  land  grants  and  other  substantial  inducements.  At  times 
they  obtained  a  free  passage  ;  at  other  times  they  had  to  pay  the 
small  charge  of  one  shilling  per  day.  A  ship  or  two  per  year 
carried  all  the  reinforcements  and  supplies  to  the  colony. 
During  that  whole  period  immigration  did  not  exceed  a  few 
thousand. 

The  English  Colonial  Government  did  little  or  nothing  for 
the-  encouragement  of  European  immigration  to  New  York. 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  9 

The  first  and  only  attempt  it  ever  made  at  settling  emigrants  was 
carried  out  in  1709  and  1710,  when,  out  of  about  15,000  Protestant 
Swabians  and  Palatines,  it  sent  at  its  own  expense  about  3,000  to 
New  York.  These  poor  people,  as  stated  above,  were  driven 
from  their  homes  by  war,  famine,  and  religious  persecution,  and 
now  threw  themselves  in  endless  numbers  upon  the  sympathies 
of  England.  While  others  of  these  exiles  were  sent  to  Ireland 
and  'North  Carolina,  Governor  Hunter  settled  the  above  3, 
on  the  Hudson  River,  where  he  proposed  to  employ  them  in  £i1Sver.Hu* 
making  naval  stores.  But  the  experiment  failed  in  consequence 
of  the  narrow-mindedness  of  the  colonial  officers,  the  sharp  prac 
tices  of  a  Scotch  speculator,  and  of  the  misapprehension  of  the 
conditions  of  an  emigrant's  success — first  among  which  is 
freedom  of  action  and  of  movement.  The  English  Government 
wanted  subjects  and  servants ;  the  emigrants  wanted  to  become 
free  and  independent.  Hence  first  the  irrepressible  conflict, 
and  finally  the  victory  of  the  immigrants. 

All  who  thenceforth  emigrated  came  on  their  own  account. 
Thus  the  Scotch,  under  Captain  Campbell,  who  settled  near 
Lake  George  (1740) ;  the  Baden  farmers,  who,  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  founded  New  Durlach,  the  present 
Sharon  in  Schoharie  County ;  thus  the  Germans,  who  settled  in 
the  Mohaw^k  Valley,  and  the  immigrants  who  were  imported  in 
1793  and  1794:  by  the  Genesee  Association.  During  the  whole 
of  the  last  century,  the  immigration  of  from  eighty  to  one 
hundred  families,  in  a  body,  was  an  event  of  great  and  general 
interest.  The  ships,  which  arrived  at  intervals,  seldom  had  more 
than  a  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  passengers  on  board. 
New  York  had  only  a  secondary  importance,  and  attracted  fewer 
immigrants  than  Pennsylvania,  because  they  were  better  treated 
in  the  Quaker  State.  For  this  reason,  Philadelphia  had  regular 
communications  with  Holland  and  England,  and,  as  an  immi 
grant  port,  ranked  far  above  New  York. 

But  in  Philadelphia,  as  well  as  in  New  York,  the  great  majority  Sgrantsf fn^p 
of  immigrants  were  very  poor  people,  so  poor  that  they  could  not   8age  moncy- 
pay  their  passage,  and  in  order  to  meet  the  obligations  incurred 
by  them  for  passage-money  and  other  advances,  they  were  sold, 
after  their  arrival,  into  temporary  servitude.      During  all  the 


10  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

last  century,  the  prepayment  of  the  passage  was  the  exception, 
and  its  subsequent  discharge  by  compulsory  labor  the  rule. 
The  ship  owners  and  ship  merchants  derived  enormous  profits 
from  the  sale  of  the  bodies  of  emigrants,  as  they  charged  very 
high  rates  for  the  passage,  to  which  they  added  a  heavy  per 
centage — often  more  than  a  hundred  per  cent. — for  their  risks. 
But  the  emigrants  suffered  bitterly  from  this  traffic  in  human 
flesh.  Old  people,  widows,  and  cripples  would  not  sell  well, 
while  healthy  parents  with  healthy  children,  and  young  people 
of  both  sexes,  always  found  a  ready  market.  If  the  parents 
were  too  old  to  work,  their  children  had  to  serve  so  much  longer 
to  make  up  the  difference.  "When  one  or  both  parents  died  on  the 
voyage,  their  children  had  to  serve  for  them.  The  expenses  for 
the  whole  family  were  summed  up  and  charged  upon  the  survivor 
or  survivors.  Adults  had  to  serve  from  three  to  six  years, 
children  from  ten  to  fifteen  years,  till  they  became  of  age; 
smaller  children  were,  without  charge,  surrendered  to  masters, 
who  had  to  raise  and  board  them.  As  all  servants  signed  in- 
ser-  dentures,  they  were  called  "  indented  servants."  Whenever  a 
vessel  arrived  at  Philadelphia  or  New  York,  its  passengers  were 
offered  at  public  sale.  The  ship  was  the  market-place,  and  the 
servants  were  struck  off  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  country 
people  either  came  themselves  or  sent  agents  or  friends  to  pro 
cure  what  they  wanted,  be  it  a  girl  or  a  "  likely  "  boy,  or  an  old 
housekeeper,  or  a  whole  family.  Among  the  records  of  this 
traffic  there  is  a  characteristic  anecdote,  about  the  wife  of  Sir 
hjohnJon11an!d  William  Johnson,  the  Indian  agent,  and  most  prominent  man  of 

his      German 

wife.  Western  New  York,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Catharine  Weisenberg  had  arrived  in  New  York  a  poor  German 
orphan  girl,  and  had  been  sold  as  an  indented  servant  to  two 
brothers,  Alexander  and  Herman  Philipps,  farmers  in  the 
jyiohawk  Yalley.  Catharine  soon  became  the  belle  of  the 
settlement,  and  was  courted  by  a  great  many  swains ;  but  none 
of  them  was  rich  enough  to  buy  her.  Johnson,  when  passing 
by,  saw  her,  and  at  once  resolved  to  make  her  his  wife.  He 
offered  one  of  the  Philippses  five  pounds,  threatening  at  the  same 
time  to  give  him  a  sound  thrashing  if  he  did  not  voluntarily  part 
with  the  girl.  Philipps  knew  that  Johnson  was  the  man  to 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  11 

make  good  his  word,  took  the  five  pounds,  and  sold  Catharine  to 
Johnson,  who  married  her  at  once.  The  match  turned  out 
excellent. 

"  Eobust  farmers  and  sturdy  mechanics,"  says  D.  von  Buelow,  Dbn  0iieEm 
the  celebrated  military  writer,  who  first  visited  the  United  States  grant  Market' 
in  1791,  "  find  a  very  easy  market.  At  times,  however,  an  un 
salable  article  creeps  in  which  remains  for  a  long  time  on  the 
shelf.  The  worst  of  these  articles  are  military  officers  and 
scholars.  The  captain  who  imports  that  kind  of  goods  does  not 
know  the  market.  I  have  seen  a  Russian  captain  for  more  than 
a  week  on  board  of  a  vessel,  heavy  as  ballast,  without  being  able 
to  obtain  a  purchaser.  He  was,  in  fact,  unsalable.  The  captain  The  unsalable 
of  the  vessel  entreated  him  to  try,  at  least,  to  find  a  purchaser, 
and,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  him,  he  offered  to  sell  him  at  a  dis 
count  of  fifty  per  cent.  He  sent  the  captain  on  shore  to  make 
the  people  take  a  fancy  to  him  ;  but  it  was  of  no  avail,  nobody 
had  a  mind  to  buy  him.  The  Eussian  always  spoke  of  stabbing 
with  bayonets,  which,  he  said,  he  had  often  practised  against  the 
Turks  and  Poles.  Strictly  speaking,  the  use  of  the  bayonet  was 
the  only  art  he  had  mastered.  Finally,  the  captain  and  con 
signee  released  him  upon  his  promise  to  pay  his  passage  after  six 
months,  and  flattered  him  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  school- 
mastership  in  the  country.  He  really  obtained  it.  "What  he 
will  teach  the  boys  and  girls  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  be  the 
bayonet  exercise." 

Peasants  and  mechanics  generally  got  along  tolerably  well.  H^f,Jlip8  imm°i 
Much,  of  course,  depended  on  the  character  of  the  master.  erante- 
There  are  instances  of  immigrants  having  been  treated  worse 
than  cattle,  and  driven  to  work  with  blows  and  kicks,  so  that 
the  colonial  authorities  had  to  interfere.  The  better  educated 
a  man  was,  the  more  he  had  learned  at  home,  the  worse  it  was 
for  him.  Hard  drinking  and  suicide  were  often  the  fate  of  the 
unfortunates  of  this  class.  Parents  sold  their  children,  in  order 
to  remain  free  themselves.  "When  a  young  man  or  a  girl  had 
an  opportunity  to  get  married,  they  had  to  pay  their  master 
five  or  six  pounds  for  each  year  they  had  still  to  serve.  Yet  a 
steerage  passage  never  cost  more  than  ten  pounds.  Run-away 
servants  had  to  serve  one  week  for  each  day,  one  month  for  each 


12  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

week,  and  six  months  for  each  month  of  absence.  If  the  master 
did  not  want  to  keep  his  servant,  he  could  sell  him  for  the  un- 
expired  time  of  his  term  of  servitude.  It  was  a  daily  occurrence 
that  whole  families  were  separated  for  ever.  In  short,  the  whole 
system  was  utterly  vicious  and  little  better  than  slavery.  It  was 
only  slavery  for  a  term  of  years,  but  in  all  other  respects  just  as 
cruel  and  iniquitous  as  that  form  of  bondage. 

^Sv  aSished  ^is  m°de  of  making  the  immigrant  pay  his  passage  died  out 
in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  last  sales  of 
passengers  are  reported  in  1818  and  1819  in  Philadelphia.  We 
do  not  hear  of  indented  servants  after  1819,  when  immigration 
began  to  consist  of  a  much  better  and  well-to-do  class  of  people, 
and  the  United  States  first  intervened  in  behalf  of  this  important 
economic  interest. 

ES?ondifro'xx  From  1775  till  1815  immigration  had  been  very  slim,  partly 
1775  to  IBIS,/  on  account  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  partly  on  account 
j^  of  the  wars  ending  with  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  I.  In  1818, 
Dr.  Adam  Seybert,  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  Pennsylvania,  in  his  valuable  "  Statistical  Annals  of  the 
United  States  "  (pp.  28  and  29),  wrote  to  the  following  effect : 
"  Though  we  admit  that  ten  thousand  foreigners  may  have  arrived 
in  the  United  States  in  1794,  we  cannot  allow  that  an  equal 
number  arrived  in  any  preceding  or  subsequent  year,  until  1817." 
Samuel  Blodget,  a  very  accurate  statistician,  wrote,  in  1806,  that, 
from  the  best  records  and  estimates  then  attainable,  the  immi 
grants  arriving  between  1784  and  1794  did  not  average  more 
than  4,000  per  annum.  Seybert  assumes  that  6,000  persons 
arrived  in  the  United  States  from  foreign  countries  in  each  year 
from  1790  to  1810.  Both  averages,  however,  seem  to  be  too 
large ;  3,000  for  the  first,  4,000  for  the  second  period  named  is  a 
very  liberal  estimate. 

immigration  af-  x  The  difficulty  experienced  in  disposing  of  property  at  satis- 
irs-  "  /factory  prices  prevented  many  from  leaving  the  Old  World  immedi- 
ately  after  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars.  But  the  great  famine 
of  1816  and  1817  drove  several  thousands  over  the  ocean.  Here  it 
may  be  stated  that,  from  that  time  forward,  the  material  and 
moral  causes  of  immigration,  above  alluded  to,  regularly  governed 
the  numerical  proportions  of  the  influx  of  Europeans  into  the 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  13 

United  States  in  successive  years.  To  prove  the  controlling 
influence  exercised  over  immigration  by  material  misery,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  political  oppression,  on  the  other,  a  few  statistical 

will  suffice. 
"While,  in  1826,  of  10,837  immigrants  7,709  came  from  the  social  and  Pou. 

^  7  tical  causes  in- 

United  Kingdom,  in  1827  their  number  increased  to  11,952  out   auT^e/mali 

of  18,875,  and  in  1828  to  17,840  of  a  total  of  27,283  ;  but  in  1829  ] 
their  number  fell  to  10,594  of  22,530,  and  in  1830  to  3,874  of 
23,322  souls.  These  fluctuations  were  due  to  the  great  commer 
cial  panic  of  1826,  and  the  distress  in  the  manufacturing  districts 
of  England,  as  well  as  the  famine  in  Ireland,  which  drove  thou 
sands  from  their  homes  who,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
would  never  have  thought  of  emigration. 

Again,  in  Germany,  where  the  abortive  revolutionary  move 
ment  of  1830-1833,  the  brutal  political  persecutions  by  the 
several  state  governments,  and  the  reactionary  policy  of  the 
federal  diet,  as  well  as  a  general  distrust  of  the  future,  produced 
an  unusually  large  emigration :  In  1831,  only  2,395  Germans 
had  arrived  in  the  United  States ;  in  1832,  10,168 ;  in  1833, 
6,823 ;  and  in  1834  to  1837,  the  years  of  the  greatest  political 
depression,  17,654,  8,245,  20,139,  and  23,036  respectively. 

The  emigration  from  Ireland,  wThich  from  1844  rose  much  Greatest    Irish    \ 

,  ,     .  .          immigration. 

beyond  its  former  proportions,  reached  its  culminating  point 
after  the  great  famine  of  1846.  During  the  decade  of  1845  to 
1854,  inclusive,  in  which  period  the  highest  figures  ever  known 
in  the  history  of  emigration  to  the  United  States  were  reached, 
1,512,100  Irish  left  the  United  Kingdom.  In  the  first  half  of 
that  decade,  viz.,  from  January  1,  1845,  to  December  31, 
1849,  607,241  went  to  the  United  States,  and  in  the  last 
half,  viz.,  from  January  1,  1850,  to  December  31,  1854, 
as  many  as  904,859  arrived  in  this  country.  "With  this 
unprecedentedly  large  emigration  Ireland  had  exhausted  herself. 
Since  1855  her  quota  has  fallen  off  to  less  than  one-half  of  the 
average  of  the  preceding  ten  years. 

Almost  coincident,  in  point  of  time,  with  this  mighty  exodus 
from  Ireland  was  the  colossal  emigration  from  Germany  which 
followed  the  failure  of  the  political  revolutions  attempted  in 
1848  and  1849.  Already  in  1845  and  the  following  years  the 


14  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

German  contingent  of  emigrants  to  the  United  States  showed  an 
average  twice  as  large  as  in  the  same  space  of  time  previous  to 
the  year  named.  But  a  voluntary  expatriation  on  a  much  larger 
scale  resulted  from  the  final  triumph  of  political  reaction.  The 
coup  cPetat  of  Louis  Napoleon  closed  for  all  Europe  the  revolu 
tionary  era  opened  in  1848.  In  the  three  years  preceding  that 
event,  the  issue  of  the  struggle  of  the  people  against  political 
oppression  had  remained  doubtful.  But  the  2d  of  December, 
1851,  having  decided  the  success  of  the  oppressors  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  the  majority  of  those  who  felt  dissatisfied  with  the 

ra-  reactionary  regime  left  their  homes.  The  fact  that  the  largest 
number  of  Germans  ever  landed  in  one  year  in  the  United 
States  came  in  1854  showed  the  complete  darkening  of  the 
political  horizon  at  that  time.  The  apprehension  of  a  new  Con 
tinental  war,  which  actually  broke  out  a  year  later  in  the 
Crimea,  also  hastened  the  steps  of  those  who  sought  refuge  in 
this  country.  People  of  the  well-to-do  classes,  who  had  months 
and  years  to  wait  before  they  could  sell  their  property,  helped  to 
swell  the  tide  to  its  extraordinary  proportions.  From  January 
1,  1845,  till  December  31,  1854,  there  arrived  1,226,392  Ger 
mans  in  the  United  States,  452,943  of  whom  came  in  the  first 
five  years  of  this  period,  and  773,449  in  the  last  five. 

!  But  the  numerical  strength  of  immigration  to  this  country  is 
not  governed  by  material  and  moral  disturbances  in  Europe, 
only.  "While  bad  crops,  commercial  and  industrial  crises,  and 
•unfavorable  turns  in  political  affairs  in  the  Old  "World  tend  to" 
increase  immigration,  the  appearance  of  the  same  phenomena  in 
the  United  States  as  certainly  tends  to  decrease  it.  Thus,  in 
1838  the  total  of  immigration  decreased  to  38,914,  while  in  the 
previous  year  it  had  amounted  to  79,340,  and  in  1839  and  1840 
it  increased  again  to  68,069  and  84,066  respectively.  The 
reason  of  this  extraordinary  decrease  was  the  great  financial 
crisis  of  1837,  which  shook  the  foundation  of  the  whole  industrial 
and  agricultural  life  of  the  United  States.  Again,  the  influx  of 
aliens  into  New  York  was  smaller  in  1858  and  1859  than  in  any 
previous  year  since  1842,  for  the  only  reason  that  the  commercial 
crisis  of  1857  had  frightened  those  who  wanted  to  make  a  living 
by  the  labor  of  their  hands.  Thus,  the  total  emigration  from  the 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  15 

United  Kingdom,  wliicli  in  1857  had  reached  the  number  of 
213,415,  in  1858  fell  off  to  113,972,  and  in  1859  to  120,431.  In 
1858  and  1859  only  78,589  and  79,322  emigrants,  respectively, 
arrived  in  'New  York,  while  in  1856  their  number  amounted  to 
142,342,  and  in  1857  to  186,733.  In  1860  it  rose  to  105,162,  but, 
in  consequence  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  it  fell  again 
in  1861  to  65,539,  and  in  1862  to  76,306.  In  1867  the  German 
immigration  in  New  York  increased  over  that  of  1866  by  more 
than  10,000,  in  which  last-mentioned  year  it  had  already  reached 
the  large  number  of  106,716  souls.  Its  ranks  were  swelled  in 
1867  in  consequence  of  the  emigration  of  men  liable  to  military 
service  from  the  new  provinces  annexed  to  Prussia  in  1866,  and 
of  families  dissatisfied  with  the  new  order  of  things.  .  Hanover 
contributed  the  largest  share  to  this  kind  of  emigration.  In  1868 
and  1869  the  tide  subsided  again  as  people  began  to  become  re 
conciled  to  the  sudden  change. 

In  short,  bad  times  in  Europe  regularly  increase,  and  bad 
times  in  America  invariably  diminish,  immigration. 

There  are  many  countries  which,  by  the  fertility  of  their  soil,  superior  attrac. 

*  *      J  t/  >     tivenessof  the 

the  geniality  of  their  climate,  and  other  natural  advantages,  are  United  states. 
among  the  brightest  spots  on  earth,  but  yet  never  have  attracted 
immigration  to  any  considerable  extent.  Thus,  the  Crimea,  the 
lower  parts  of  European  Russia,  and  the  Danubian  principalities 
in  Europe,  Algiers  in  Africa,  and,  on  our  continent,  parts  of 
Mexico,  as  well  as  hundred  thousands  of  square  miles  in  South 
America,  are,  in  regard  to  natural  resources,  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States ;  and  yet  the  latter 
attracts  the  masses  of  European  immigration,  and  it  is  pre 
eminently  the  country  of  the  immigrant.  Canada  lies  at  the 
door  of  the  Union ;  it  offers  about  the  same  advantages  as  the 
North-western  States,  and  yet  the  majority  of  European  immi 
grants  pass  through  this  English  colony  to  become  citizens  of  the 
Republic. 

Why  is  this,  and  how  can  we  explain  this  apparent  anomaly  ?  R^J{£ :  cj^h 
However  equal  such  inducements  to  emigrants  as  fertility  of  soil,    in"?'  po 
salubrity  of  climate,  security  of  property,  and  facility  of  commu 
nication  may  be  in  different  countries,  the  emigrant  prefers  the 
country  where  labor  is  best  remunerated,  where  land  is  cheap, 


16  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

wliere  government  does  not  interfere  with  him,  where  no  class 
privileges  exist,  and  where,  from  the  day  of  his  landing,  he  stands 
on  a  footing  of  absolute  equality  with  the  natives.  Thus  we  find 
that,  in  this  respect  also,  moral  as  well  as  physical  causes  control 
emigration.  The  first  are  as  powerful,  if  not  more  powerful  than 
the  latter.  In  the  United  States,  both  are  at  work  in  attracting 
emigrants,  and  hence  why  there  is  a  larger  European  immigration 
to  this  country  than  to  any  other  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

The  secret  of  the  unparalleled  growth,  and  of  the  daily  increas 
ing  power  of  the  United  States,  is  that  the  Government,  in  its 
practical  working,  is  confined  to  the  narrowest  limits,  that  it  is 
the  agent,  not  the  master  of  the  people,  and  that  the  latter  ini 
tiate  all  changes  in  its  political  and  social  life.  And  similarly,  it 
is  the  condition  of  the  success  of  a  colony  or  a  settlement  that  the 
immigrant  relies  on  his  own  strength,  acts  on  his  own  responsi 
bility,  and  seeks  by  his  own  efforts  the  prosperity  which  he  is 
sure  to  find,  if  undisturbed.  All  mistakes  which  he  may  make, 
all  errors  of  judgment  which  he  may  commit,  are  of  no  conse 
quence,  if  his  self-relying  spirit  is  not  interfered  with.  In  spite 
of  obstacles  and  disappointments,  he  will  make  his  way,  and  ulti 
mately  attain  his  object.  After  abandoning  the  laws,  the  tradi 
tions,  and  the  family  ties  of  his  old  home,  he  does  not  wish  to  be 
unduly  restrained  in  his  aspirations,  or  owe  responsibility  to  any 
one  except  himself.  He  will  willingly  undergo  all  the  hardships 
and  danger  incidental  to  settlement  in  a  new  country,  provided 
he  finds  a  free  government  and  no  improper  interference  with  his 
self-adopted  mode  of  life.  A  colonist,  in  brief,  must  be  his  own 
master,  in  order  fully  to  develop  his  mental  and  physical  re 
sources,  and  to  become  a  useful  agent  in  building  up  a  free 
commonwealth. 

Bethegoviet™™fiS       "^  m°dern  colonies  which  were  inaugurated  by  governments 
JSSSSaSffii  have  failed ;  self-government,  in  the  broadest  sense,  is  the  power 
Teutonic  races  which  sustains  colonies  and  instils  into  them  life  and  independ 
ence.     In  the  history  of  colonization,  the  Teutonic  races  represent 
the  principle  of  self-government,  which  leads  to  the  success  of  the 
immigrant,  while  the  Latin  nations  represent  that  of  state  de 
pendence  and   protection,  which  inevitably  results  in  failure. 
Look  at  the  Spanish  republics,  from  Mexico  down  to  Peru ;  at 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  17 

the  French  colonies,  the  youngest  of  which,  Algiers,  has  ever 
since  its  first  days  been  weak,  and  is  almost  dying  from  the  effects 
of  government  care ;  and  at  the  efforts  of  the  Belgian  Government 
to  regulate  the  work  of  their  colonists  in  Central  America  by 
military  discipline,  arid  compare  them  with  the  flourishing, 
thriving,  and  prosperous  condition  of  the  English  colonies  in 
America  and  Australia.  The  difference  in  the  results  of  the  two 
systems  is  too  striking  to  require  any  further  demonstration.  In 
this  country  we  had  both  systems  working  side  by  side  in  New 
France  and  New  England.  French  rule,  which,  with  its  great 
captains,  brave  warriors,  and  indefatigable  priests,  tried  to  seize 
upon  and  fetter  a  continent,  is  a  memory  of  the  past ;  but  New 
England,  the  growth  of  which — to  use  the  eloquent  language  of 
Francis  Parkman — was  the  result  of  the  aggregate  efforts  of  a 
busy  multitude,  each  in  his  narrow  circle  toiling  for  himself,  to 
gather  competence  and  wealth — New  England  influences  the 
destinies  of  a  whole  continent,  and  is  one  of  the  civilizing  factors 
of  the  world. 

I  have  shown,  in  a  book  on  German  immigration  to  this  State,  Germans  on  the 
the  third  German  edition  of  which  is  just  published  by  Mr.  E.    JJ» 
Steiger,   of  this  city,  how  the  above-mentioned  Germans,  who    valleya 
were  settled  on  the  upper  Hudson  by  the  English  Government, 
were  a  motley  set  of  shiftless  adventurers  and  vagabonds  so  long 
as  they  depended  on  the  colonial  authorities;  but  these  same 
men,  when  left   to  themselves  as  settlers  in  the  Schoharie  and 
Mohawk  valleys,  soon  became  brave  and  daring  pioneers,  well-to- 
do   farmers,   and  good   citizens,   who   formed   a  living  barrier 
against  the  inroads  of  the  French  and  Indians,  and  conquered  the 
finest  parts  of  our  noble  State  for  civilization. 

Again,  it  was  from  no  whim  of  the  immigrant  that  he  avoided  ^ 
the  Southern  States  while  they  were  cursed  with  slavery ;  for  a 
land  can  have  no  civil  liberty  in  which  freedom  of  labor  and  the 
dignity  wherewith  respectable  employment  is  invested  do  not 
exist.  In  natural  advantages  the  North-west  is  much  inferior  to 
the  northern  States  of  the  South.  Middle  and  South  Virginia, 
for  ir- stance,  are  gardens  of  Eden,  which  cannot  be  excelled  by 
any  Scate  of  the  Union,  and  yet  they  are  partly  in  a  primeval 
state.  Henceforth  the  North  and  Europe  will  send  their  peace- 


IS  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

ably  conquering  armies  of  farmers  and  mechanics  to  take  posses 
sion  of  these  rich  grounds,  and  raise  them  to  the  importance 
which  they  would  have  reached  fifty  years  ago,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  ban  of  slavery.  So  it  will  be  in  Tennessee,  in  Carolina, 
in  Kentucky,  and  Texas.  Foreign  immigration,  which,  before  the 
late  war,  almost  exclusively  settled  in  the  free  North,  will  hence 
forth  pour  into  the  South  as  well.  The  United  States,  by  the 
successful  termination  of  the  war  against  rebellion,  have  indeed 
increased  the  attraction  of  this  country  for  the  immigrant,  and 
there  is  not  the  least  reason  to  doubt  that  the  great  Republic  will 
in  the  future  become  more  than  ever  the  favorite  land  of  the  im 
migrant.  And  New  York  City  is  the  main  gateway  through 
which  the  vast  tide  of  emigration  enters,  and  New  York  State 
the  great  thoroughfare  over  which  it  pours  to  be  diffused  over 
the  Union. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE      SEA      VOYAGE. 

DURING  the  whole  of  the  last  and  the  greater  part  of  theM<^e 
present  century,  the  ship-owners  chartered  the  lower  decks  of    CeaudrsPart 
their  vessels  to  agents,  for  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum  for  each   ries.  l 
ton  or  the  whole  space  disposed  of.     The  agents  made  the  need 
ful  temporary  arrangements  for  the  accommodation  of  the  passen 
gers,  and  underlet  the  steerage,  either  to   associations  of  emi 
grants,  or  parcelled  it  out  to  sub-agents  or  to  single  passengers. 

Thus  the  owner  of  the  vessel  had  not  the  least  concern  or  ^difference  of 

Slap-owners  to 


interest  in  the  welfare  or  good  treatment  of  the  passengers  ;  all  j  emig/auts1.  ° 

he  looked  for  was  the  payment  of  the  stipulated  price  for  that 

part  of  the  ship  which  he  had  let.     The  steerage  passengers  were 

simply  additional  and  unwelcome  freight;   they  had  to   follow 

the  directions  of  the  owner,  and  were  subordinate  to  what  he 

considered  his  more  important  interests.     They  had  to  wait  for 

their  departure  as  long  as  it  pleased  him,  and  had  no  other  right 

than  to  occupy  the  ten  or  twelve  square  feet  which  were  allotted 

to  them.     To  the  owner,  they  were  less  than  a  box  of  goods,  and 

handled  with  less  care,  as  they  did  not  break,  nor,  if  injured, 

require  to  be  paid  for.     The  agents,  in  order  to  make  the  business 

lucrative,  sent  on  board  as  many  passengers  as  they  could  get 

hold  of,  without  the  smallest  reference  to  the  conveniences  of  the 

steerage,  the  number  of  berths,  the  separation  of  the  sexes,  or  any 

thing  except  their  own  immediate  profit.     Besides  assigning  a 

space,  however  small,  to  the  emigrants,  they  had  no  responsibili 

ty,  and  ran  no  risk  whatever.     There  was  no  check  to  the  over 

loading  of  the  vessel.     Even  if  it  had  more  than  double  the  num 

ber   of  passengers   that   it   could   accommodate,   there   was   no 

authority  to  which  the  emigrants   could   apply  for  protection. 

The  agents  did  just  as  they  pleased.     A  vessel  which  was  not 

good  and  safe  enough  to  be  used  as  a  transport  for  goods  and 

merchandise  was,  nevertheless,  employed  for  the  conveyance  of 


20  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

passengers.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  destruction  of  life  by  ship 
wrecks  has  been  most  appalling  among  the  emigrants  who  have 
been  enticed  on  board  the  worn-out  vessels  engaged  in  the  Cana 
dian  timber  trade ;  seventeen  being  shipwrecked  in  a  single  sea 
son  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  more  than  seven  hundred 
lives  lost. 

Looking  at  the  fine  and  commodious  ships  used  in  our  day  for 
the  forwarding  of  emigrants,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  form  a  cor 
rect  idea  of  the  bad  construction  and  awkward  proportions  of  an 
old  merchantman  carrying  passengers. 

A  hundred,  and  even  fifty,  years  ago,  a  sea  voyage  was  an 

years  ago.  ...  J    & 

enterprise  requiring  more  than  ordinary  courage.  A  person 
crossing  the  Atlantic,  regularly  made  his  last  will  and  provided 
for  his  family.  A  passenger  who  safely  returned  was  the  wonder 
of  his  town ;  and  when  he  came  back  from  America,  his  neigh 
bors  called  him  the  "American."  The  inland  people  had  no 
idea  of  a  sea-going  vessel ;  in  their  eyes  a  sea  voyage  was  synony 
mous  with  severe  sickness,  terrible  suffering,  and  hardship.  In 
descriptions  of  voyages,  published  as  late  as  1822,  and  containing 
engravings  of  the  ships  in  which  the  authors  crossed — usually  on 
small  brigs  or  barks  of  a  couple  of  hundred  tons — all  the  petty 
occurrences  of  the  day  are  narrated  in  the  journal  of  the  traveller 
with  minute  details ;  the  most  insignificant  items  of  the  voyage 
are  treated  as  matters  of  great  concern,  and  the  everyday  work 
of  the  sailors  commands  the  admiration  and  respect  of  the  pas 
sengers. 
insufficient  ac-  In  fact,  the  first  cabin  of  a  London  packet  a  hundred  years 

commodation  •/ 

ships,6 and1'™-  a&°  was  not  a  wmt  more  airy  or  comfortable  than  the  steerage  of 
taiityf    mor-alarge  gteamer  Of  our  <jays>     The  lower  deck  of  an  emigrant 

vessel,  as  late  as  1819,  was  no  better  than  that  of  a  slaver  or  a  coo 
lie  ship ;  the  passengers  were  just  as  crowded,  and  just  as  little 
thought  of,  as  those  unfortunate  beings  from  Africa  or  China. 
Five  or  six  feet  was  an  extraordinary  height  for  a  steerage  deck ; 
the  common  height  was  from  four  to  five  feet,  and  the  lower  or 
orlop  deck,  which  was  also  used  for  the  so-called  accommodation 
of  passengers,  was  not  much  better  than  a  blackhole,  too  bad  to 
shelter  cattle.  The  natural  consequence  was  a  large  mortality. 
Ten  deaths  among  one  hundred  passengers  was  nothing  extra- 


THE    SEA    YOYAGE.  21 

ordinary;  twenty  per  cent.  was*  not  unheard  of;  and  there  were 
cases  of  400  out  of  1,200  passengers  being  buried  before  the  ships 
left  port.  Other  facts  of  the  same  kind  are  on  record.  Thus, 
of  the  3,000  Palatines  forwarded  in  1710  by  the  English  Gov 
ernment  to  New  York,  470  died  on  the  voyage,  and  250  im 
mediately  after  their  arrival,  of  ship-fever. 

John  George  Jun^mann  (1702-1802),  a  Moravian  mission- Narrative  of 

Jungmann,    a 

ary  among  the  Indians,  and,  like  all  Moravians,  entitled  to  im-  8ionary?u  mi8" 
plicit  confidence,  in  1731  came  to  America  via  Rotterdam,  with 
his  father,  who  emigrated  from  Hockenheim  in  the  Palatinate. 
He  was  first  obliged  to  wait  three  weeks  at  the  port  for  the  de 
parture  of  the  vessel,  and  finally  sailed,  the  ship  having  156  pas- 
•  sengers  on  board,  and  provisions  for  twelve  weeks.  She  was 
bound  for  Philadelphia  via  Falmouth.  At  the  latter  port  she 
again  stopped  three  weeks.  When  she  had  been  eight  weeks  at 
sea,  the  passengers  were  put  on  short  allowances,  and  during  the 
last  four  weeks  of  their  voyage  they  were  never  able  to  obtain 
bread.  Jungmann  could  procure  no  food  whatever  from  the 
captain  either  for  himself,  father,  or  sister,  and  the  only  drink 
allowed  them  was  one  pint  of  water  daily.  The  passengers  had 
to  live  on  rats  and  mice,  which  were  considered  dainties.  The 
price  on  board  for  a  rat  was  eighteen  pence,  and  for  a  mouse  an 
English  sixpence.  The  captain  was  under  the  impression  that 
the  passengers  had  considerable  money  and  valuables  with  them, 
and,  believing  that  he  might  profit  by  it,  he  endeavored  to 
reduce  them  to  a  state  of  starvation.  He  succeeded  too  well, 
for  out  of  the  156  passengers  only  48  reached  America ;  and  not 
a  single  human  creature  would  have  been  landed  off  the  vessel,  if 
the  passengers  had  not  revolted,  arrested  the  captain,  and  put  in 
at  Rhode  Island  port,  after  a  voyage  of  twenty-five  weeks.  Jung 
mann  adds  that  he  himself,  his  father,  and  one  sister  were  about 
starved  to  death,  that  they  were  unable  to  walk  erect,  and  oblig 
ed  to  creep  on  the  ground  ;  while  his  mother,  and  three  brothers 
and  sisters,  had  died  on  the  voyage.  He  concluded  by  saying : 
"  It  was  a  shocking  and  heart-rending  scene  to  see  all  these  poor 
people,  without  the  ability  to  succor  them,  to  find  them  in  the 
morning  stiff  and  cold  on  their  beds,  partly  eaten  up  by  rats,  and 
then,  to  see  them  thrown  into  the  ocean,  an  occurrence  which  took 


22  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

place  two  or  three  times  a  day."  Indians  took  care  of  Jungmann, 
and  nursed  him  and  his  father  till  May,  1732,  when  they  sailed 
for  Philadelphia,  where  they  arrived  on  the  16th  day  of  that 
month,  having  been  more  than  a  year  on  their  way  there. 

Reverend  Dr.  Kunze,  in  an  oration  delivered,  in  ITS 8,  before 
the  German  Society  of  Philadelphia,  stated  that  of  900  passen 
gers  shipped  in  one  vessel  in  that  year  at  Amsterdam  for  Phila 
delphia,  400  had  died  on  the  way.  Henry  T.  Yierhaus,  Secre 
tary  of  the  same  Society,  in  a  report,  dated  January  22,  1818, 
e  ^1US  Describes  the  cause  of  the  mortality  on  board  the  ship  April, 
Captain  de  Groot,  just  arrived  in  the  Delaware : 

"When  the  passengers  came  on  board  at  Amsterdam,"  he 
says,  "  there  were  233  full  freights.  The  ship  was  ordered  a 
few  miles  below  Amsterdam  to  w^ait  for  more  passengers,  but  no 
more  came ;  whereupon  the  house  of  Kress  &  Eodenbrock,  the 
ship-brokers,  foreseeing  a  loss  if  they  did  not  ship  more  passen 
gers,  proceeded  to  engage  passengers  from  other  vessels  which 
were  in  the  same  situation,  waiting  for  freight.  These  vessels 
had  lain  there  for  a  considerable  time,  and,  owing  to  bad  food 
and  poor  attendance,  those  on  board  were,  more  or  less,  sick  and 
full  of  vermin.  These  passengers  were  put  on  board  the  ship 
April,  making  the  whole  number  near  1,200  souls.  The  sickness 
brought  on  board  by  those  shipped  in  the  manner  described 
spread  rapidly  through  the  vessel.  When  the  whole  number 
was  crammed  into  the  ship,  there  were  among  them  about  120 
sick.  Captain  de  Groot  was  ordered  by  Kress  &  Rodenbrock  to 
put  to  sea,  against  which  the  captain  protested,  giving  as  a  reason 
that  he  would  not  undertake  the  voyage  with  so  many  sick ;  that 
115  dead  persons  had  already  been  sent  on  shore ;  and  that  he 
did  not  thinly  there  was  a  sufficiency  of  provisions  for  such  a 
large  number.  In  consequence  of  this  protest,  the  Amsterdam 
police  sent  four  doctors  on  board,  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the 
passengers  and  of  the  vessel.  They  found  the  ship  in  such  a 
shocking  condition  that  it  was  ordered  into  Quarantine  at  the 
Island  of  Wieringen.  Here  all  the  sick  were  put  into  the  hospi 
tal,  and  the  healthy  separated  from  them.  They  remained  there 
1,9  weeks,  and  about  300  died,  besides  the  115  who  were  sent  on 
shore  dead." 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  23 

We  shall  see  hereafter  that  this  shocking  mortality  is  not  Mortality  on  re- 
confined  to  remote  times,  and  that  the  living  generation  has 
witnessed  thousands  of  deaths  from  the  same  causes.  To  give  an 
adequate  idea  of  recent  losses  of  human  life  on  board  of  ill- 
provided,  ill-ventilated  vessels,  it  may  be  stated  here  that  out  of 
98,105  poor  Irish  emigrants  shipped  to  Canada  by  their  landlords 
after  the  great  famine  of  1816,  during  the  summer  of  1817 
there  died  5,293  at  sea,  8,072  at  Gross  Isle  (Quarantine)  and 
Quebec,  and  7,000  in  and  above  Montreal,  making  20,365, 
besides  those  who  afterwards  perished  whose  number  will  never 
be  ascertained.  Thus  the  Lark,  reported  at  Quebec  on  August  The  LarK. 
12,  18-17,  from  Sligo,  sailed  with  410  passengers,  of  whom  108 
died  on  the  passage  and  150  were  sick,  almost  all  of  whom  died 
a  short  time  after  landing.  The  Virginias  sailed  with  496;  158  The  rir 
died  on  the  passage,  186  were  sick,  and  the  remainder  landed 
feeble  and  tottering ;  the  captain,  mates,  and  crew  were  all 
down.  At  that  period,  the  ratio  of  the  sick  per  one  thousand 
was  30  on  board  British,  9f  on  American,  and  8|  on  German 
vessels.  Ship-fever  and  want  of  food  were  almost  unheard  of 
on  board  of  vessels  from  Northern  Europe,  and  particularly  those 
from  Hamburg  and  Bremen. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  medical  statisticians  that  not  lessEgtimatedNo  of 
than  20,000  emigrants  perished  by  ship-fever,  and  in  the  various 
emigrant  hospitals  in  American  ports,  during  the  year  1847. 
Compared  with  these  losses,  the  mortality  on  board  the  Hamburg 
ship  Leibnitz  of  the  notorious  Sloman  line  was  quite  small,  for 
out  of  544  passengers  (children  and  infants  included),  108  fell 
victims  to  the  bad  ventilation  and  insufficient  provisions.  The 
fever-ship  Leibnitz  arrived  at  ISTew  York  on  January  11,  1868. 

The  first  law  which  prescribed  the  space  to  be  allotted  to  Fir9t  law  rejm. 
each  steerage  passenger  was  that  passed  by  Congress  on  March   a?cSmsm™v 
2,  1819,  according  to  which  a  ship  was  forbidden  to  carry  more   MarcU  2« 18i9- 
than  two  passengers  for  every  five  tons,  Custom  House  measure. 
This  law,  however  benevolent  its  purpose,  proved  insufficient ; 
for  it  did  not  prohibit  the  orlop-deck,  nor  provide  for  proper 
ventilation    or    side-lights,   nor    deduct    the    freight-room    and 
accommodations  for  the  officers  and  first-class  passengers  from  the 
computation  of  the  total  amount  of  tonnage.     Thus  a  ship  which 


24  THE    SEA    YOYAGE. 

measured  1,000  tons  and  had  a  steerage  of  only  500  tons,  could 
nevertheless  take  steerage  passengers  for  the  whole  tonnage,  that 
is,  400  instead  of  200.  Nothing  was  said  about  the  height  of  the 
steerage.  It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  construction 
of  ships  for  the  express  purpose  of  carrying  passengers  only 
began  about  the  year  1830  ;  that  up  to  that  time  all  space  which 
could  not  be  used  for  shipping  merchandise  was  temporarily 
arranged  for  steerage  passengers ;  that  often  at  the  last  moment, 
a  few  days  before  going  to  sea,  the  superfluous  room  was  sold  to 
an  agent,  and  that  in  those  days  a  steerage  five  feet  high  was 
considered  fully  sufficient  for  making  two  tiers  of  beds  along 
their  sides.  And  the  hole  beneath  this  hole  was  called  orlop- 
deck,  and  likewise  used  for  the  transport  of  passengers. 
1he06stpeerage0^  From  tllis  the -nature  of  the  atmosphere  in  the  steerage  of  an 
emigrant  ship  can  readily  be  imagined  without  a  minute  descrip 
tion.  We  have  only  to  consider  that  the  room  was  rarely  more 
than  six  feet  high,  had  no  other  aperture  for  the  admission  of 
fresh  air  than  the  hatches,  which,  during  the  night  and  bad 
weather,  were  generally  closed,  was  crowded  with  passengers,  of 
whom  the  greater  portion  were  strangers  to  the  virtue  of  cleanli 
ness,  and  many  of  them  down  with  sea-sickness  or  other  equally 
loathsome  diseases.  What  with  the  miasma  of  a  damp  hold,  the 
excretions  and  exhalations  from  the  bodies  of  the  individuals 
thus  confined,  and  the  emanations  from  other  and  more  offensive 
matter,  an.  atmosphere  was  created  which  acted  like  poison  on 
those  who  had  to  breathe  it,  and  engendered  ship-fever  in  a  more 

\      or  less  violent  degree. 

uifcng  The  health  of  the  passengers  was  further  impaired  by  another 
r  evil  which  prevailed  on  board  of  all  emigrant  ships  up  to  a  com 
paratively  recent  time — the  emigrants  were  expected  to  provide 
themselves  with  food,  and  to  cook  it  as  best  they  could.  The 
Bremen  authorities  were  the  first  which,  about  1830,  required 
masters  of  ships  to  furnish  cooked  provisions  for  their  passengers. 
It  was  at  the  furthest  only  a  few  years  before  the  passage  of  the 
P!iSe?  i855.of  S0'ca^e(^  Passenger  Act  of  March  3,  1855,  by  Congress,  that  the 
Havre  and  Liverpool  vessels  included  the  fare  and  cooking  in 
the  prices  of  their  passage. 

The  consequences  of  this  vicious  arrangement  to  those  poor 


THE    SEA    YOYAGE.  25 

and  improvident  people  were  self-evident.  Many  of  them 
embarked  without  any  provisions  at  all,  and  very  few,  if  any, 
with  a  sufficient  supply ;  many  had  not  the  means  to  buy  food, 
and  others  had  deceived  themselves  as  to  the  duration  of  the 
voyage;  hence  it  is  doubtless  true  that  not  one  of  all  the 
emigrant  ships  from  British  and  Irish  ports  had  a  sufficient  sup 
ply  of  proper  food  for  all  on  board.  But,  supposing  there  were 
some  among  the  cargo  of  passengers  well  provisioned  for  the 
voyage,  there  were  no  means  at  their  disposal  for  having  their 
food  properly  cooked.  For,  as  the  arrangements  of  which  they 
could  avail  themselves  for  that  purpose  were  insufficient  even  on 
board  of  the  very  largest  and  best  of  ships  engaged  in  the  con 
veyance  of  emigrant  passengers,  it  can  readily  be  imagined  what 
they  must  have  been  on  board  of  the  fleet  of  vessels  of  an 
inferior  class. 

On  the  upper  deck  of  the  ship,  there  were  two  small  rooms 
cooking,  about  five  feet  deep  and  four  feet  wide,  called  the  steer 
age  galley.  Within  was  a  grate  corresponding  to  the  width  of 
the  room,  over  which  grate  was  fastened  an  iron  bar,  and  on  this 
there  were  two  iron  hooks,  to  which  the  emigrant  hung  his  pot 
or  kettle  (if  he  had  one)  when  he  wanted  to  cook.  These  were 
all  the  arrangements  for  preparing  meals  for  several  hundred 
passengers.  The  result  was  that,  except  when  they  had  nothing  to 
cook  or  were  sick,  there  was  constant  lighting  for  room  near  the 
caboose,  and  not  one  of  the  passengers  could  be  sure  of  getting 
his  food  well  cooked.  The  sufferings  which  they  endured  in  this 
way  embittered  the  emigrants  one  against  another,  and  their 
quarrels  ended  when  in  the  evening  the  fires  were  extinguished , 
but  only  to  revive  in  the  morning. 

From  these  causes  resulted  not  only  w^ant  of  sufficient  and 
wholesome  food,  but  also  the  impossibility  of  properly  preparing 
what  little  there  was.  In  view  of  this,  it  cannot  surprise  us  that 
thousands  of  emigrants,  greatly  enfeebled  already  when  going  on 
board,  either  died  on  the  passage  or  arrived  with  scarcely  a  spark 
of  life  in  them. 

An  experience  of  fifty  years,  comprising  an  immigration  of  Three  chief  di» 

,         L    ,,.,,.  J    J     .  .          eases   of  era/- 

more  than  five  millions,  teaches  us  that  the  three  diseases  by   srs^t  ships. 
which  passenger-ships  have  been  chiefly  scourged  are  typhus  or 


26  THE   -SEA    VOYAGE. 

ship-fever,  as  it  is  called  when  it  takes  place  at  sea,  cholera,  and 
small-pox.  "  Of  these  three  "—says  John  H.  Griscom,  M  JX,  and 
former  Superintendent  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of 
New  York,  in  a  comnmnication  addressed  on  January  14, 1854,  to 
a  special  committee  of  the  United  States  Senate — "  that  to  which 
the  emigrant  is  most  prone  is  ship-fever.  The  extraordinary 
prevalence  of  this  disease  at  the  present  time,  and  for  the  past 
half-century,  but  especially  for  the  past  seven  or  eight  years,  is  an 
astounding  phenomenon,  particularly  when  it  is  remembered  that 
we  live  in  the  midst  of  all  the  light  necessary  for  its  prevention. 

"My  first  practical  cognizance  of  the  horrible  condition  in 
which  emigrants  are  frequently  found  on  shipboard  was  in  1847, 
when,  as  a  member  of  a  committee  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine,  I  visited  the  Quarantine  establishment  to  enquire  into 
the  medical  history  of  the  typhus  fever  then  extensively  prevailing, 
and  crowding  that  institution  with  patients.  On  that  occasion  we 
1847.  visited  the  ship  Ceylon,  from  Liverpool,  which  had  come  to  anchor 
a  few  hours  before,  with  a  large  cargo  of  passengers.  A  consid 
erable  number  had  died  upon  the  voyage,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  were  then  ill  with  the  fever,  and  were  preparing  for  a 
removal  to  the  hospital.  Before  any  had  yet  left  the  ship,  we 
passed  through  the  steerage,  making  a  more  or  less  minute  exam 
ination  of  the  place  and  its  occupants ;  but  the  indescribable  filth, 
the  emaciated,  half-nude  figures,  many  with  the  petechial  erup 
tion  disfiguring  their  faces,  crouching  in  the  bunks,  or  strewed 
over  the  decks,  and  cumbering  the  gangways;  broken  utensils 
and  debris  of  food  spread  recklessly  about,  presented  a  picture 
of  which  neither  pen  nor  pencil  can  convey  a  full  idea.  Some 
were  just  rising  from  their  berths  for  the  first  time  since  leaving 
Liverpool,  having  been  suffered  to  lie  there  all  the  voyage,  wal 
lowing  in  their  own  filtk  It  was  no  wonder  to  us  that,  with  such 
total  neglect  of  sanitary  supervision,  and  an  entire  absence  of 
ventilation,  so  many  of  such  wretched  beings  had  perished  or 
were  then  ill  of  fever ;  it  was  only  surprising  that  so  many  had 
escaped. 

The  Eutaw,  1842.        "  Shocking  as  this  case  was,  it  has  been  frequently  surpassed, 

t     at  least  as  far  as  figures  are  concerned.     In  1842,  the  ship  Euta/uo 

gave  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  the  hospital  on  arrival;  in  183T, 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  27 

the  Ann  Jlatt  sent  in  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  ;  while,  as  far  The  Ann  Han 

back  as  the  year  1802,  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  were  taken 

from  the  flora,  two  hundred  and  twenty  from  the  Nancy,  and  The  Flora,  x«n- 

two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  from  the  Penelope.     In  1851,  the   ^e,iso2. 

number  of  deaths  at  sea  between  Liverpool  and  New  York  rose 

to  the  astounding  number  of  1,879,  almost  wholly  the  result  of 

ship-fever. 

"  In  addition  to  this,  the  poisonous  influence  which  becomes 
infused  into  those  who  have  escaped  death  or  sickness  on  ship 
board  lies  dormant  for  a  few  days  or  weeks  after  debarkation,  and 
sooner  or  later  develops  itself  and  brings  many  of  them  to  the  hos 
pital,  where  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  more  are  added  to  the 
list  of  dead.  Thus  there  were  treated  in  the  Marine  Hospital,  on 
Staten  Island,  in  1852,  3,040  cases  of  ship-fever,  of  whom  seven 
teen  per  cent.  died.  These  were  all  emigrants  ;  and  we  must  add 
to  these  the  cases  of  the  same  disease,  of  the  same  people,  which 
were  treated  in  the  large  hospitals  at  Flatbush,  Ward's  Island, 
and  Bellevue,  at  the  City  Hospital,  and  at  other  places  through 
out  this  State  and  the  States  immediately  adjoining,  nearly  all  of 
whom  arrived  at  the  port  of  New  York  alone. 


"  In  considering  the  hygienic  aspect  of  emigration,  we  start,  Kate  of 
then,  with  the  remarkable  fact  that,  of  those  who  embark  upon 
an  Atlantic  voyage  on  any  of  a  certain  class  of  ships,  out  of  every 
twelve  one  falls  a  victim  ;  that  is,  nearly  nine  per  cent,  either 
never  reach  the  promised  land  or  die  soon  after. 

"  The  general  causes,  as  well  as  the  means  of  prevention,  of  Ite  orlgin. 
this  disease  are  so  plain  as  not  to  require  a  medical  education  for 
their  comprehension,  but  may  be  made  clear  to  ordinary  intelli 
gence  ;  and  the  vast  importance  of  the  subject  will  justify  an 
allusion  to  both  in  this  essay. 

"  Ship-fever,  as  it  is  termed,  from  the  place  of  its  greatest  prev 
alence,  is  the  product  of  a  miasma  as  distinct  as  that  of  marshes, 
which  causes  intermittent  fever.  This  ship-miasma  is  itself  as  in 
evitable  a  result  of  certain  conditions,  as  the  other  miasma  is  the 
product  of  marshes.  And  further,  the  means  for  its  prevention 
are  as  clear  and  controllable  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  Thus, 
if  an  offensive  marsh  be  thoroughly  drained  and  dried,  its  pecu 
liar  miasma,  and  the  disease  which  it  causes,  will  disappear,  and 


28  THE    SEA    YOYAGE. 

so  by  preventing  the  formation  of  ship-miasma  (as  easy  of  accom 
plishment  as  the  other)  ship-fever  will  in  like  manner  be  pre 
vented. 

"  What,  then,  are  the  circumstances  which  give  rise  to  this 
typhus-breeding  miasma  ?  There  are  certain  conditions  essential 
to  its  creation,  which  I  will  enumerate  in  the  order  of  their  im 
portance,  beginning  with  the  least : 

"  I.  The  confinement  of  people  in  apartments  disproportioned 
in  size  to  the  requirements  of  wholesome  respiration. 

"  II.  The  retention  in  the  same  apartment  of  the  -excretions 
from  the  bodies  of  the  individuals  thus  confined;  such  as  the 
matter  of  perspiration  and  other  more  offensive  excretions.  These, 
acted  on  by  the  artificial  heat  of  the  apartment,  or  even  by  the 
natural  heat  of  the  bodies  alone,  will  become  decomposed,  and 
produce  an  effluvium  which  will  react  poisonously  on  the  persons 
exposed  to  it. 

"  III.  The  exclusion  of  pure  air. 

"  As  to  the  first  of  these  causes,  the  number  of  persons  and 
the  size  of  the  apartment  necessary  to  produce  the  miasma  are 
merely  relative.  An  apartment  may  be  crowded  without  danger 
from  this  source,  provided  that  from  the  first  ventilation  and 
cleanliness  be  thoroughly  and  constantly  maintained. 

Eitpslanvi™?ence  "  Witn  tnis  brief  explanation  of  the  general  causes  of  typhus, 
the  reasons  for  its  prevalence  in  the  steerages  of  passenger-ships 
are  very  apparent.  In  great  numbers  of  them,  all  the  conditions 
enumerated  above,  as  necessary  for  the  creation  of  this  disorder, 
are  found  to  exist,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  the  existence  of 
*  specific  cause,  some  specific  cause  in  addition  to  the  general  ones  which  have 
been  mentioned. 

""We  find  ship-fever,  within  a  few  years,  to  have  prevailed 
most  frequently  and  extensively  in  those  vessels  which  ply  be 
tween  several  ports  of  Great  Britain  and  this  country,  and  this 
fact,  together  with  an  examination  of  the  passengers,  points  un- 

Famine.  erringly  to  the  famine  which  desolated  a  large  section  of  that 

kingdom  as  the  additional  cause  alluded  to. 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  29 

"  This  is  a  direct,  and  at  the  same  time  an  indirect  cause.  The 
infection  is  carried  to  the  ship  by  the  emigrants  from  a  country 
where  hunger  typhus  prevails ;  besides,  the  previous  exhaustion 
predisposes  to  be  attacked  by  miasma.  In  connection  with 
this  branch  of  the  subject,  another  source  of  the  development  of 
ship-fever  demands  notice.  In  the  cabins  and  hovels — the  homes 
of  these  famine-stricken  people — typhus  fever  raged  a  long  time, 
and  doubtless  prevails  extensively  yet,  produced  by  the  same  gen 
eral  and  specific  causes  as  have  been  described.  The  emigrants 
leave  for  the  seaboard,  and  straightway  enter  the  ships,  unpurified 
and  unwashed,  reeking  with  the  fever  miasma  of  their  habitations. 
Into  the  crowded  and  confined  steerage  they  hasten  for  rest  and 
escape  from  starvation  and  death.  But  unconsciously  they  bring 
the  enemy  with  them ;  the  fatal  seeds  are  but  sown  in  a  fresh  soil, 
and,  as  though  from  a  hot-bed,  they  sprout  even  more  vigorously. 
One  such  case  on  board  a  crowded  and  badly  ventilated  ship  may 
cause  the  death  of  numbers. 

"  The  food  with  wrhich  these  people  are  supplied  on  shipboard,  improper  food 
even  if  sufficient  in  quantity  (which  it  is  not  always),  is  very  often 
so  badly  cooked  as  to  operate  injuriously  upon  them.  So  great  is 
often  the  difficulty,  among  from  300  to  1,000  people,  of  finding  a 
proper  time  and  opportunity  for  cooking,  that  it  is  a  common 
occurrence  for  them  to  swallow  their  flour  or  meal  only  half 
cooked,  or  even  mixed  simply  with  warm  water,  if  indeed  warm 
water  can  be  had.  The  effect  of  this  kind  of  diet  is  but  to  add 
other  evils,  such  as  dysentery  and  diarrhoea,  to  the  typhus  miasma 
with  which  the  steerage  becomes  infected,  the  debility  of  the  in 
mates  rendering  them  more  susceptible  to  its  influence  than  they 
would  be  if  well  fed. 

"  For  the  prevention  as  well  as  the  cure  of  typhus,  it  is  neces-  prevention  and 
sary  that  the  physical  stamina  be  well  maintained  by  appropriate 
food,  in  sufficient  quantity.  With  ordinary  strength  of  body 
and  elasticity  of  spirit,  few  persons  can  be  induced  to  remain 
below  deck  for  many  hours  together,  and,  while  the  pure  air  of 
the  ocean  directly  increases  animal  vigor,  it  is  also  the  surest  pre 
ventive  of  typhus.  Even  the  half-starved  emigrant  would  find 
his  energy  and  spirits  revive,  if  compelled  by  a  rigid  sanitary 
police  to  make  frequent  visits  to  the  ship's  deck. 


30  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

"  Famine,  therefore,  though  a  frequent  precedent  and  a  power 
ful  adjunct,  is  only  an  indirect  cause  of  the  fever  as  we  find  it  on 
shipboard  and  in  our  hospitals ;  but  we  must  continue  to  be  bur 
dened  with  it  so  long  as  poverty-stricken  emigrants  are  admitted 
into  the  transport-ships  in  such  great  numbers,  with  food  so 
insufficient  in  quantity  and  quality,  and  with  such  a  total  ab 
sence  of  sanitary  police  during  the  voyage, 
vmue  of  pure  air  «  From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  readily  inferred  that  in 

as  a  curative.  .  -i 

the  prevention  of  typhus  fever  pure  air  possesses  great  value. 
Too  much  reliance  cannot  be  placed  upon  it,  either  for  this  pur 
pose  or  for  subduing  the  intensity  or  arresting  the  progress  of 
the  disease.  Of  its  efficacy  as  a  remedial  agent,  a  striking  in 
stance  among  many  others  that  might  be  mentioned  occurred  at 
the  New  York  Quarantine  Hospital,  under  my  immediate  notice, 
during  my  connection  with  the  State  Emigrant  Commission.  A 
new  building  was  erected  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  within  the 
enclosure,  into  which  some  forty  patients  were  conveyed  from  the 
other  overcrowded  buildings.  These  had  been  kept  in  as  good 
condition  as  possible  as  respects  both  cleanliness  and  ventilation. 
Though  there  were  no  specific  provisions  for  the  latter,  yet  the 
influence  of  the  fresh  atmosphere  of  the  new  building  upon  the 
patients  was  most  decided  and  immediate ;  a  load  seemed  to  be 
lifted  off  them,  and  several,  who,  it  was  feared,  would  die,  began 
at  once  to  improve  and  rapidly  recover. 

"In  the  month  of  August,  1837,  a  number   of  ships  with 
em^rant  passengers  arrived  at  Perth  Amboy,  from  Liverpool 

i   •    i       1   •       p  *il 

and  other  ports,  on  board  of  some  of  which  ship-fever  prevailed. 
There  was  no  hospital  or  other  accommodations  in  the  town  in 
which  the  sick  could  be  placed,  and  no  person  would  admit  them 
into  private  dwellings,  fearing  infection ;  at  the  same  time,  they 
could  not  be  left  on  board  the  ships.  An  arrangement  was  made 
to  land  the  sick  passengers  and  place  them  in  an  open  wood, 
adjacent  to  a  large  spring  of  water,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
town.  Eough  shanties,  floored  with  boards  and  covered  with 
sails,  were  erected,  and  thirty-six  patients  were  landed  in  boats,  as 
near  the  spring  as  possible,  and  carried  in  wagons  to  the  encamp 
ment  (as  it  was  called),  under  the  influence  of  a  hot  August  sun. 
Of  the  thirty-six,  twelve  were  insensible,  in  the  last  stage  of  fever, 


THE    SEA    YOYAGE.  31 

and  not  expected  to  live  twenty-four  hours.  The  day  after 
landing  there  was  a  heavy  rain,  and,  the  shanties  affording  no 
orotection  with  their  '  sail '  roofs,  the  sick  were  found  the  next 
morning  wet,  and  their  bedding,  such  as  it  was,  drenched  with 
the  rain.  It  was  replaced  with  such  articles  as  could  be  collected 
from  the  charity  of  the  inhabitants.  Their  number  was  in 
creased  by  new  patients  to  eighty-two  in  all.  On  board  the  ship, 
which  was  cleansed  after  landing  the  passengers,  four  of  the 
crew  were  taken  with  ship-fever,  and  two  of  them  died.  Some 
of  the  nurses  at  the  encampment  were  taken  sick,  but  recovered. 
Of  the  whole  number  of  eighty-two  passengers  removed  from  the 
ship,  not  one  died.  Pure  air,  good  water,  and,  perhaps,  the 
rain  (though  only  the  first  thirty-six  were  affected  by  it)  seemed 
to  have  effected  the  cure. 

"  The  ship  was  the  Phoebe,  with  between  three  and  four  hun 
dred  passengers,  a  number  of  whom  (twenty-seven)  had  died  on 
the  passage.  The  shanties  spoken  of  were  two  in  number,  thirty 
feet  long,  twenty  feet  wide,  boarded  on  three  sides  four  feet  up, 
with  old  sails  stretched  over  them.  The  twelve  wdio  were  re 
moved  from  the  ship  in  a  state  of  insensibility  were  apparently 
in  so  hopeless  a  condition  that  the  overseer,  who  was  a  carpenter, 
observed, '  "Well,  Doctor,  I  think  I  shall  have  some  boxes  to  make 
before  many  hours.'  t  The  night  after  their  arrival  at  the  en 
campment,'  says  Dr.  Smith,  'we  had  a  violent  thunder-gust, 
accompanied  by  torrents  of  rain.  On  visiting  them  the  following 
morning,  the  clothes  of  all  were  saturated  with  water ;  in  other 
words,  they  had  had  a  thorough  ablution ;  this,  doubtless,  was  a 
most  fortunate  circumstance.  The  medical  treatment  was  ex 
ceedingly  simple,  consisting,  in  the  main,  of  an  occasional  laxa 
tive  or  enema,  vegetable  acids,  and  bitters;  wine  was  liberally 
administered,  together  with  the  free  use  of  cold  water,  butter 
milk,  and  animal  broths.'  The  four  sailors  who  sickened  after 
.the  arrival  of  the  vessel  were  removed  to  the  room  of  an  ordinary 
dwelling-house.  The  medical  treatment  in  their  case  was  precisely 
similar,  yet  two  of  them  died,  and  the  others  suffered  from  car 
buncles  while  convalescing.  The  doctor  adds,  '  My  opinion  is, 
that  had  the  eighty-two  treated  at  the  encampment  been  placed 
in  a  common  hospital,  many  of  them  would  also  have  fallen 


32  THE    SEA    YOYAGE. 

victims.      I  do  not  attribute  their  recovery  so   much   to    the 
remedies   administered  as   to   the  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed ;  in  other  words,  a  good  washing  to  begin  with,  and 
n  abundance  of  fresh  air.3 

"It  nas  puzzled  some  to  understand  why  it  is  that  typhus 
fever  and  many  other  infectious  disorders  are  more  frequent  and 
fatal  in  cold  than  in  warm  weather.  This  fact  is  attributed  by 
some  to  the  low  temperature ;  but  the  true  reason  undoubtedly 
is,  that  in  winter  the  external  atmosphere  is  more  completely 
excluded  from  our  dwellings  and  hospitals  by  closing  of  doors 
and  windows,  which  in  warm  weather  are  open  and  freely  permit 

reason.  the  ingress  and   egress  of  air.     Hence,  in  winter,  the  greater 

necessity  of  artificial  ventilation.  The  same  reasoning  applies  to 
passenger-ships  in  cold  or  stormy  weather,  when  the  hatches  are 
kept  closed.  Artificial  ventilation,  necessary  at  all  times,  is  then 
more  urgently  demanded. 

Tenacity  of  the  "  There  is  another  fact  connected  with  ships,  as  well  as  with 
hospitals  and  dwellings,  which  has  a  very  important  bearing  on 
this  subject.  The  miasma  which  has  been  spoken  of  has  the 
property  of  attaching  itself  to  clothing,  bedding,  furniture,  and 
to  the  walls,  ceilings,  and  floors  of  apartments.  It  is  absorbed  by 
them,  and  adheres  with,  considerable  tenacity,  whence  it  is  ever 
ready,  unless  thoroughly  destroyed  and  removed  by  cleansing 
and  the  use  of  disinfectants,  to  issue  forth,  and  to  pregnate  the 
atmosphere  again  with  its  poisonous  influence.  Into  a  room  in 
wrhich  a  case  of  typhus  fever  has  once  existed,  even  for  a  short 
time,  it  is  unsafe  to  enter,  unless  the  room  and  everything  in  it 
has  been  first  subjected  to  a  thorough  airing  and  purification. 
Here,  then,  is  a  constant  source  of  danger,  which  will  probably 
account  for  many  instances  of  devastation  on  shipboard  by  this 
disease.  A  vessel  in  which  it  has  once  occurred  will  have  the 
miasmatic  poison  clinging  to  its  sides,  ceilings,  and  floors,  from 
which  it  cannot  possibly  be  eradicated  without  the  most  thorough , 
airing,  cleansing,  and  disinfecting,  such  as,  I  presume,  no  vessel 
engaged  in  the  European  passenger  trade  has  ever  received.  In 
hospitals  and  dwellings,  with  hard-finished  walls  and  painted 
wood-work,  this  fact  is  often  demonstrated.  In  the  peculiar 
structure  of  a  vessel's  inner  walls,  without  plaster,  paint,  or  white- 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  33 

wash,  with  thousands  of  crevices  and  cracks  inaccessible  to  the 
scrubbing-brush  or  any  other  purifying  implement,  without 
windows  for  the  free  circulation  of  air,  we  see  the  perfection  of  a 
place  for  the  long  retention  of  the  poison,  and  for  its  propagation 
for  months  afterwards,  when  the  steerage  shall  be  again  crowded 
with  sure  victims. 

"  Moreover,  the  bunks  or  berths  on  these  vessels  are  generally  BuPk9  re 

•J      ries    of   pesti- 

constructed  of  the  cheapest  kind  of  boards,  often  in  the  rough  l 
state,  and  put  together  without  any  nicety — the  whole  arrange 
ment  being  of  the  flimsiest  character.  Nothing  of  the  kind  could 
be  better  adapted  to  harboring  the  fever  miasma.  At  the  end  of 
the  voyage,  the  bunks  are  sometimes  taken  down  without  disinfec 
tion  or  even  washing,  and,  with  all  the  filth  and  miasma  adhering 
to  them,  stowed  away,  either  as  dunnage,  amid  the  return  cargo, 
or  in  bulk,  to  be  appropriated  to  their  original  purpose  on  the  next 
hitherward  voyage.  Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  next  cargo  of 
emigrants  of  such  a  vessel,  though  it  may  be  composed  of  ever  so 
healthy  and  cleanly  people,  and  though  the  ship  may  be  well  sup 
plied  with  stores,  bedding,  and  other  requisites,  is  yet  liable  to 
suffer  from  the  latent  seeds  of  disease,  night  and  day,  as  the  pas 
sengers  are  in  contact  with  the  fever-charged  bunks.  There  is 
more  than  probability  that  more  or  less  will  be  attacked.  The 
pestilence  once  started,  there  is  no  telling  where  it  will  stop. 

"  But  even  supposing  this  source  of  danger  to  be  stopped  by 
the  destruction  of  the  old  bunks  and  the  substitution  of  new  ones 
after  each  voyage,  the  permanent  timber  of  the  vessel,  if  not  dis 
infected,  will  still  form  a  repository  for  the  poison,  whence  its 
ravages  may  be  renewed. 

"The  second  of  the  diseases  by  which  passenger-ships  have C1^rr£ on 8hip" 
been  infested  is  cholera.  The  open  air  generally  puts  an  end  to 
typhus  or  ship  fever,  whereas  cholera  is  controlled  by  no  such 
corrective.  Although  this  fearful  disorder  confines  itself  to  no 
precise  localities,  there  appear  to  be  circumstances  under  which  it 
is  peculiarly  apt  to  make  its  appearance.  These  circumstances 
have  been  ascertained  to  be  in  a  great  degree  similar  to  those 
which  give  rise  to  typhus  fever.  The  poor  and  vicious,  whose 
vital  powers  are  enfeebled  by  want  of  wholesome  nutritious  food 
and  close  confinement  or  criminal  excess,  are  found  to  be  much 


34  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

more  liable  to  become  the  prey  of  cholera  than  persons  who  Lave 
good  nourishing  food  in  abundance,  take  regular  exercise,  and 
abstain  from  indulgences  that  weaken  the  general  tone  of  the 
system,  whilst  they  add  to  the  nervous  excitability  of  the  body. 
Cholera,  it  is  true,  often  appears  and  disappears  without  any  ap 
parent  cause,  a  fact  the  reason  of  which  is  still  hidden  from  the 
eye  of  science,  and  can  only  be  explained  by  time  and  experience. 
It  is  sufficient  to  know  that,  if  the  body  is  kept  in  a  healthy,  well- 
balanced  condition,  and  its  functions  are  not  interrupted  by  any 
disturbing  causes,  it  may,  in  the  generality  of  cases,  bid  defiance 
to  the  assaults  of  the  disease.  The  theory  is  entertained  by  some 
that  cholera  on  shipboard  arises  from  the  virus  of  the  disease 
having  been  imbibed  by  the  persons  or  clothing  of  passengers  pre 
vious  to  embarkation,  or  that  it  is  met  with  in  certain  zones 
through  which  the  ships  pass  in  reaching  the  Western  Continent. 
Concerning  this  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that  all  that  can,  be  done 
by  the  owners  of  passenger-ships  is  to  prevent  the  existence  of 
any  exciting  cause  of  sickness  on  board  of  them,  and  of  any  state 
of  things  by  which  it  may  be  nourished  and  sustained  if  contracted 
elsewhere.  If  there  be  anything  in  the  atmosphere  of  particular 
zones  or  belts,  it  must  be  encountered  alike  by  ships  sailing  prob 
ably  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  propelled  by  the  same 
winds,  and  standing  on  the  same  courses.  Such,  however,  is  not 
son  of  the  case.  While  passengers  on  Liverpool  vessels  died  by  hundreds 
ships,  from  the  cholera,  those  from  Germany,  who  had  left  Hamburg 
and  Bremen  at  the  same  time,  and  arrived  in  New  York  about 
the  same  period  with  those  from  Liverpool,  had  no  sickness  on 
board ;  for  the  reason  that  they  were  not  so  crowded,  that  they 
were  cleaner  and  healthier  when  they  embarked,  and  better  pro- 
•vided  for  during  the  voyage.  The  German  port  regulations, 
which  compel  the  ships  to  distribute  cooked  provisions  among  the 
emigrants,  account  for  their  superiority  in  respect  to  health  and 
cleanliness." 

Among  twelve  vessels,  which  arrived  at  Quebec  on  or  about 

Tin  Amy.         August  10,  1847,  there  were  two  German  ships,  the  bark  A my, 

THJ  watchful,    from  Bremen,  with  289  passengers,  and  the  brig  Watchful,  from 

Tne  Triniti/.      Hamburg,  with  145  passengers,  and  one  Irish  brig,  the  Trinity, 

from  Limerick,  with   86  passengers,  upon  which  there  occurred 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  35 

neither  sickness  nor  death  during  the  voyage.  The  other  vessels, 
consisting  of  two  from  Limerick,  one  from  Sligo,  three  from  Dub 
lin,  two  from  Liverpool,  and  one  from  Greenock,  with  2,386  pas 
sengers,  had  together  198  deaths  and  286  sick  on  their  passage. 

But  even   ships  which   leave  the  same  port  simultaneously  Difference     in 

A  »       health  of  ves- 

show  a  very  remarkable  difference  in  the  respective  health  of  their  |£jfi 
passengers.     This  must  be  ascribed  to  the  better  condition  of  the   same 
ship  and  of  the  passengers  in  the  one  case,  and  to  the  previous 
poverty  and  insufficient  nourishment  in  the  other.     Thus,   the 
ship  Lucy  Thompson,  after  a  passage  of  twenty-nine  days>  arrived 
at  ~Ncw  York,  from  Liverpool,  on  the  llth  of  September,  1853, 
with  a  loss  of  forty  out  of  835  passengers  by  cholera.     The  Wil- 
Ham  Stetson  arrived  on  the  same  day,  after  a  passage  of  thirty- 
one  days,  with  355  passengers,  having  lost  none  on  the  passage. 
The  Great  Western  arrived  on  the  day  previous,  September  10,  ^,^reat  Wcst' 
after  a  passage  of  thirty-one  days,  832  passengers,  no  death  hav 
ing  occurred  on  board.     On  the  19th  of  September,  1853,  the 
Isaac    Webb  arrived  at  Xew  York,  from   Liverpool,  with   YT3 The  ^aac  weM. 
passengers,  after  a  passage  of  twenty-nine  days,  seventy-seven  hav 
ing  died  of  cholera.     On  the  next  day,  the  Roscius  arrived  from  The  Rosa™. 
the  same  port,  with  495  passengers,  after  a  passage  of  thirty-five 
days,  six  days  longer  than  that  of  the  Isaac  Well),  and  yet  with 
out  a  single  death.     On  the  loth  of  October,  1853,  the  Monte- 
ziunci  arrived  at  !N"ew  York,  from  Liverpool,  in  forty-one  days, 
with  404:  passengers,  and  a  loss  of  two ;   while  the  JkTarmion Th 
arrived  on  the  same  day,  after  a  passage  of  twenty-five  days,  with 
295  passengers,  and  a  loss  of  thirty-six  by  cholera,     The  Wash- The  Washington, 
incjton  arrived  at  Kew  York  on  the  23d  of  October,  1853,  after 
a  passage  of  forty-one  days,  with  952  passengers,  and  a  loss  of 
eighty-one ;   while  the  Guy  Mannering  arrived  on  the  25th  of  T  Jfaw> 

the  same  month,  after  a  passage  of  thirty-seven  days,  with  781 
passengers,  and  without  loss. 

These  examples  might  be  multiplied  almost  at  pleasure,  show 
ing  that  vessels  which  left  the  same  port  almost  at  the  same  time, 
and  reached  the  same  point  of  destination  about  the  same  time, 
and  consequently  would  be  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  same 
latitudes  and  subject  to  the  same  winds  at  the  same  time,  suffered 
in  very  different  degrees.  The  cases  presented  show  conclusively 


36  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

that  the  disease  on  board  of  these  vessels  must  be  attributed  to 
some  exciting  cause  pre-existing  within  them,  which  could  not  be 
connected  with  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  or  the  prevalence 
of  certain  winds  on  the  ocean. 

smaii-pox.  "With  regard  to  small-pox,  the  third  in  rank  of  the  diseases  which 

have  affected  emigrants,  its  nature  and  its  means  of  prevention  are 
too  well  knowTn  to  require  anything  more  than  a  single  remark, 
viz.,  that  the  rules  which  apply  to  the  prevention  of  typhus  or 
ship  fever  and  cholera  are,  in  the  main,  also  applicable  in  the  case 
of  small-pox. 

Gify  teo  if10Nei  The  percentage  of  mortality  among  the  passengers  on  board  of 
vessels. bo  nd  New  York  vessels  has  been  considerably  greater  than  those  of 
vessels  trading  to  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  other  ports.  This  is 
to  be  accounted  for  by  a  variety  of  reasons.  New  York  being  the 
great  commercial  emporium  of  the  Union,  passengers  from  every 
country  in  Europe  have  been  induced  to  regard  it  as  the  point  to 
which  they  should  direct  their  courses.  Hence  the  huge  structures 
furnished  by  the  enterprise  of  that  great  metropolis  for  the  trans 
portation  of  passengers  have  been  crowded  to  excess,  and,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  causes  of  disease  have  existed  on  board 
of  those  vessels  to  a  greater  extent  than  on  any  other.  In  general, 
the  percentage  of  deaths  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  number 
of  passengers,  that  is,  it  has  been  found  that  where  passengers  have 
been  distributed  in  smaller  numbers  disease  and  death  have  been 
less  prevalent.  The  smallest  percentage  of  deaths  has  occurred 
on  vessels  from  ports  of  Europe  other  than  those  of  Liverpool, 
London,  Bremen,  Hamburg,  and  Havre,  which,  being  off  the  great 
thoroughfares  of  commerce,  have  presented  fewer  attractions  to 
the  great  mass  of  emigrants.  The  vessels  from  these  ports,  being 
less  crowded,  are  more  easily  ventilated  and  kept  clean,  and  pre 
sent  greater  facilities  for  the  proper  preparation  of  the  food  of  the 
passengers,  and  for  their  exercise  in  good  weather. 

Chneaithsof  vc°8-  During  the  four  last  months  of  1853,  312  vessels  arrived  at 
New  York  from  European  ports,  with  96,950  passengers.  Of  these 
vessels,  forty-seven  were  visited  by  cholera,  and  1,933  passengers 
died  at  sea,  while  457  were  sent  to  the  hospitals  on  landing — 
there,  in  all  probability,  to  terminate  in  a  short  time  their  miser 
able  existence — making  nearly  two  per  cent,  of  deaths  among  the 


THE    SEA    YOYAGE.  37 

whole  number  of  persons  who  had  embarked  for  the  New  World, 
and  nearly  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  when  including  those  who 
were  landed  sick.  On  board  of  the  forty-seven  vessels  attacked 
by  cholera,  the  number  of  passengers  was  21,857,  of  whom  1,821 
(being  S'4S  per  cent.)  died  on  the  passage,  and  284  were  landed 
sick,  making  9*68  per  cent,  of  dead  and  diseased,  in  an  average 
passage  of  thirty-nine  days. 

Of  the  arrivals  above  mentioned,  112  were  from  Liverpool,  with 
an  average  of  435  passengers  on  each.  Twenty-four  of  these  ves 
sels,  with  an  average  of  577  passengers,  or  an  average  excess  of 
142  passengers  each  over  the  general  average  of  the  whole  number 
of  vessels,  had  cholera  on  board. 

Of  twenty  vessels  which  arrived  from  London,  five  had  cholera 
on  board.  The  average  number  of  passengers  on  board  the  vessels 
attacked  by  cholera  was  411  each,  while  that  of  the  whole  number 
was.  but  326. 

Of  fifty-two  vessels  which  arrived  from  Bremen,  three  had  cho 
lera  on  board.  The  average  of  passengers  on  board  of  each  vessel, 
out  of  the  whole  number,  was  201,  while  the  average  on  board  of 
those  attacked  by  cholera  was  259. 

Of  twenty-two  vessels  that  arrived  from  Hamburg,  six  had 
cholera.  Of  forty-two  vessels  which,  arrived  from  Havre,  six  had 
cholera.  The  average- 011  board  of  the  whole  number  of  ships 
was  409,  while  on  board  of  the  six  cholera  ships  the  average  was 
561. 

Of  sixty-four  vessels  which  arrived  from  other  ports  of  Europe, 
three  had  cholera  on  board.  The  average  of  passengers  on  board 
of  the  whole  number  of  these  ships  was  148,  while  that  on  board 
of  the  ships  attacked  by  cholera  was  185. 

The  average  on  board  of  the  whole  number  of  vessels  (312) 
that  arrived  from  Europe  during  the  four  months  was  311,  while 
the  average  on  board  of  the  forty-seven  that  had  cholera  was  465. 
The  average  on  board  of  the  vessels  which  arrived,  exclusive  of 
those  with  cholera,  was  283,  showing  that  the  cholera  vessels  car 
ried  an  average  excess  of  182  each  over  those  that  were  compara 
tively  healthy. 

Of  the  vessels  which  escaped  from  cholera,  there  were  thirty- 
three,  carrying  on  an  average  335  passengers  each,  on  board  of 


38  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

which  deaths  occurred.     On  these  vessels,  the  number  01  deaths 
was  112,  out  of  11,044:  passengers. 

It  appears  from  the  above  statement  of  facts,  that  the  ships  on 
board  of  which  cholera  broke  out  were  those  which  were  most 
crowded  with  passengers,  and  that  the  vessels  on  board  of  which 
deaths  from  other  diseases  occurred  were  the  next  most  crowded, 
whilst  the  remainder,  which  were  healthy,  had  the  lowest  average 
of  passengers. 
improvement  in  Much  has  been  done  since  to  alleviate  the  hardships  connected 

condition      of 

JbiJfSSJ.  on  Wltn  sea  voyages.  The  liberal  legislation  of  Congress,  which,  by 
the  Act  of  March  3,  1855,  first  concedes  and  endeavors  to  secure 
the  rights  of  the  emigrants  by  giving  to  each  of  them  two  tons  of 
space,  and  by  providing  for  the  proper  ventilation  of  the  ship,  as 
well  as  for  a  sufficient  amount  of  substantial  and  cooked  provi 
sions,  has  contributed  much  towards  preventing  the  almost  daily 
.  occurrence  of  sickness  and  privations  on  board  of  emigrant  ships. 
The  construction  of  sailing-vessels  is  better,  but  beyond  this  the 
steamers  have  taken  the  place  of  the  former,  and  have  begun  to 
monopolize  the  transport  of  emigrants,  of  whom  at  present  about 
eighty-nine  per  cent,  arrive  in  steamers,  while  in  1856,  for  in 
stance,  only  three  per  cent,  of  their  number  had  availed  themselves 
Cmno)rptaaiitytiou°f  tm's  faster  and  healthier  mode  of  conveyance.  "While  in  1850 
vessel,  the  average  number  brought  by  steamers  was  230,  against  184  in 
sailing-vessels;  in  1868,  it  was  489  to  204;  and,  in  1869,  517  to 
183 ;  showing  an  average  difference  in  favor  of  steamers  of  285 
and  334  respectively.  The  comparative  mortality  of  passengers  on 
board  sailing-vessels  and  steamers  shows,  in  1868,  a  very  large 
proportional  disparity  in  favor  of  the  steamers.  Out  of  180,449 
passengers  in  451  steamers,  200  died ;  while  from  among  31,953 
in  200  sailing-vessels,  the  deaths  were  393.  In  1869,  out  of  229,190 
passengers  in  504  steamers,  210  died ;  of  28,333  passengers  in  209 
sailing-vessels,  138  died ;  being  about  one  death  in  1000  of  the  for 
mer,  and  200  of  the  latter.  There  is  every  reason  for  the  real 
ization  of  the  hope  that  in  less  than  ten  years  the  sailing- 
vessels,  as  transports  of  emigrants,  will  disappear  from  the 
ocean.  There  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  a  complaint  brought 
against  the  steamers,  which  make  the  average  of  their  trips  in  less 
than  a  fortnight,  and  on  account  of  the  short  voyage,  the  plenty 


THE    SEA    VOYAGE.  39 

of  good  water,  provisions,  and  fresli  air,  prevent  their  passengers 
from  falling  sick.  Humanity  has  thus  succeede'd  in  making  the 
exception  now  what  was  formerly  the  rule,  and  a  mortality  of  one- 
fourth  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  passengers  is  now 
adays  considered  a  very  large  loss. 

Much,  however,  as  has  been  done,  there  is  still  ample  room 
for  greater  improvement. 

To  remove  the  most  pressing  evils,  the  author  of  this  essay,  in 
the  winter  of  1868,  submitted  a  bill  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  !'"&  of  New 
of  New  York,  "  For  the  more  effectual  protection  of  emigrants  ar 
riving  at  the  port  of  New  York."  By  this  bill,  which  on  June  5, 
1868,  became  a  law,  the  Commissioners  are  severally  invested 
with  the  power  (subject  to  certain  conditions)  of  examining  under 
oath  any  witness  respecting  complaints  made  by  any  person  rela 
tive  to  the  ship  in  which  any  emigrant  may  have  arrived,  his 
treatment  on  shipboard,  and  the  quality  of  the  provisions  fur 
nished  ;  or  to  take  testimony  in  reference  to  any  death  that  may 
have  occurred  during  the  voyage ;  and  such  testimony,  if  made 
in  presence  of  the  persons  complained  of,  may  be  used  as  evidence 
in  any  subsequent  action  between  any  of  the  passengers  and  the 
owner,  master,  or  charterer  of  the  ship.  Thus  offending  persons 
will  be  deprived  to  a  great  extent  of  the  chance  of  escaping  pun 
ishment,  while  the  emigrant  will  be  exposed  in  consequence  to 
less  risk  of  unjust  treatment,  or,  if  aggrieved,  will  have  a  speedier 
and  more  accessible  mode  of  redress  than  has  hitherto  existed. 

The  necessity  of  such  a  provision  was  almost  immediately  after  The  James  FO* 
its  passage  shown  in  the  case  of  the  James  Foster ,  Jr.,  a  Liverpool 
emigrant  ship,  as  without  it  the  atrocious  misconduct  and  brutal 
ity  of  her  officers  could  not  have  been  adequately  punished. 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  our  General  Government,  as 
well  as  the  governments  of  Europe,  will  themselves  initiate  the 
necessary  reforms,  and  follow  the  just  example  set  to  them  by 
the  North  German  Confederation.  The  draft  of  a  Convention  proposed  con- 

.  ventlon     with 

between  the  United  States  and  the  several  European  govern- 
ments,  for  the  better  protection  of  steerage  passengers  while  at 
sea,  prepared  by  Secretary  Hamilton  Fish,  is  a  noble  proof  of  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  United  States  to  do  their  utmost  in  behalf  of 
the  emigrants. 


40  THE    SEA    VOYAGE. 

It  is  in  the  interest  of  humanity  that  in  future  the  Emigrant 
Courts,  proposed  by  Secretary  Fish,  shall  have  exclusive  control 
and  power  in  all  matters  connected  with  the  well-being  of  the 
emigrants. 


CHAPTEK    III. 

BONDING   AND     COMMUTING — PRIVATE    HOSPITALS    FOR    IMMIGRANTS. 

A  NEW  era  in  emigration  began  after  the  great  Napoleonic  wars. 
It  may  be  said  to  have  formally  opened  with  the  year  1819, 
which  witnessed  the  passage  of  the  first  United  States  law  on 
the  subject. 

Up  to  that  time  no  precise  and  connected  information  con 
cerning  any  phase  of  immigration  was  obtainable  in  this  country. 
No  systematic  effort  had  been  made  where  to  gather  reliable 
facts  and  figures,  and  the  scanty  data  anterior  to  the  year  named 
that  have  descended  to  us  are  obtained  from  a  variety  of  sources. 
With  the  law  of  1819  a  regular  supply  of  statistics  on  the  sub- 
'  ject  was  assured. 

The  history  of  immigration  after  1819  may  be  divided  into  immigration  ai*- 

.      ,          /;        „  '     .  .       ,,  j  IT-         ter!819. 

two  periods :  the  first  opening  in  the  year  named  and  ending  in 
1847,  the  year  of  the  creation  of  the  Board  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  the  second  beginning 
with  184:7  and  coming  down  to  our  days.  The  former  period 
will  be  first  considered. 

In  1817,  no  less  than  22,240  persons,  including  Americans  sale  or  two  ship- 
from  abroad,  arrived  at  ports  of  the  United  States  from  foreign  erants  in  wn. 
countries.  In  no  previous  year  had  one-half  as  many  foreign 
passengers  reached  this  country.  In  December,  1817,  two  ship 
loads,  bound  for  Philadelphia,  were  sold  into  the  slave  State 
Delaware.  The  transaction  was  shocking  in  the  extreme,  and 
created  a  painful  sensation  all  over  the  country;  but  there  were 
no  laws  of  the  United  States  either  limiting  the  number  of 
persons  which  a  passenger  ship  or  vessel  was  allowed  to  carry,  or 
providing  in  any  way  for  the  health  or  comfort  of  the  passengers. 
The  subject  attracted  the  immediate  attention  of  Congress.  On 
March  10,  1818,  Louis  McLane,  of  Delaware,  reported  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  a  bill  "  regulating  passenger  ships  and 
vessels,"  which  was  read  twice  and  referred.  In  December  of  the 


42  BONDING  AND    COMMUTING. 

following  session,  it  was  called  up  by  Thomas  .Newton,  of  Vir 
ginia,  who  explained  the  necessity  of  its  passage.  It  was  read  a 
third  time,  and  passed  the  House.  After  receiving  amendments 
from  both  the  Senate  and  House,  it  was  finally  passed  and  ap 
proved  March  2,  1819. 

Act  of  March  2,  This  act  fixed  the  space  allotted  to  the  emigrants  to  five  tons, 
Custom  House  measurement,  for  every  two  passengers,  and  in 
case  of  contravention  punished  the  captain  with  a  fine  of  $150 
for  each  passenger.  It  declared  the  ship  to  be  forfeited  to  the 
United  States,  if  the  number  of  passengers  carried  exceeded  the 
said  proportion  of  two  to  every  five  tons.  It  further  specified 
the  amount  of  water  and  provisions  to  be  taken  on  board  by 
emigrant  vessels,  and  exacted  a  fine  of  three  dollars  for  every  day 
that  any  passenger  was  put  on  short  allowance.  Finally,  it 
required  the  collectors  of  customs  to  report  quarterly  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  the  number  of  passengers  arriving  in  their 
collection  districts,  by  sea,  from  foreign  countries ;  also  the  sex, 
age,  and  occupation  of  such  passengers,  and  the  country  in  which 
they  were  born.  Annual  reports  embracing  that  information 
have,  in  conformity  with  this  act,  been  made  to  Congress  by  the 
Secretary  of  State  ever  since.  Although,  in  some  parts,  incorrect 
and  meagre,  they  form  the  only  reliable  statistical  basis  of  the 
history  of  emigration  during  the  period  from  1819  to  1847. 

Heagreness  of  I11  a^  other  respects,  our  sources  of  information  are  rather  im- 
Itati8lic8.tlon  perfect  and  superficial.  The  emigrant  is  not  a  subject,  but  an 
object — not  an  active,  but  a  passive,  force  in  this  international 
movement.  We  would  probably  never  have  heard  of  his  history, 
and  of  his  sufferings,  except  in  legendary  tales  and  indistinct 
family  traditions,  had  not  the  rapacity  of  agents  and  ship-owners 
compelled  the  several  governments  to  interfere  in  his  behalf,  and 
to  protect  him  against  the  grossest  imposition.  Even  as  it  is, 
emigrants  are  considered  as  an  aggregate  of  human  beings  only, 
with  no  characteristic  distinction  except  that  of  nationalities. 

Emigrants    re-  They  appear  simply  as  a  numerical  quantity ;  they  seem  to  have 
mlescal  qaau" no  individual  existence,  and  the  student  of  contemporary  history 
does  not  take  the  trouble  to  study  their  individual  motives,  mis 
fortunes,  and  aspirations.     He  contemplates  the  emigration  of 
large  bodies  only  from  the  stand-point  of  wholesale  changes  in  the 


BONDING  AND    COMMUTING.  43 


condition  of  nations,  of  social  and  political  short-comings   and 

disturbances.  The  poor  peasant  of  the  inland  village  who  seeks 
to  be  an  independent  land-owner  across  the  ocean,  and  the 
noble  patriot  wrho  valiantly  but  unsuccessfully  fought  for  human 
rights ;  the  mechanic  and  the  scholar ;  the  rich  and  the  destitute ; 
the  reckless  swindler  and  the  honest  man — all  represent  but  so 
many  figures.  They  are  looked  upon  as  mere  quantities  added 
to  the  total  wealth  and  strength  of  the  land.  And  all  this,  al 
though,  as  a  whole,  they  emigrate  with  an  intelligent  and  firm 
purpose  to  take  up  anew  the  battle  of  life,  and  to  fight  it  through 
valiantly  and  honorably.  Although  the  most  lucrative  article 
of  import,  emigrants  were  treated  with  the  least  possible  care, 
with  the  utmost  disregard  of  decency  and  humanity.  "With  rare 
exceptions,  they  were  robbed  and  plundered,  from  the  day  of  their 
departure  to  the  moment  of  their  arrival  in  their  new  homes,  by 
almost  every  one  with  whom  they  came  in  contact.  They  re 
ceived  less  consideration  on  the  voyage  than  even  trees  in  course 
of  transplantation.  They  were  treated  worse  than  beasts,  and 
less  cared  for  than  slaves,  who,  whatever  their  condition  may  be 
in  other  respects,  represent  more  or  less  capital,  and,  as  valuable 
chattels,  are  sure  to  receive  protection  and  assistance  in  case  of 
danger  or  sickness.  There  seemed  to  be  a  secret  league,  a  tacit 
conspiracy,  on  the  part  of  all  concerned  in  dealing  with  emi 
grants,  to  fleece  and  pluck  them  without  mercy,  and  pass  them 
from  hand  to  hand  as  long  as  anything  could  be  made  out  of 
them.  The  poor  foreigners  were  virtually  helpless  against  any 
sort  of  imposition  and  fraud.  The  thousands  who  died,  or  were 
killed,  on  the  voyage,  were  thrown  into  the  ocean  with  as  little 
ceremony  as  old  sacks  or  broken  tools.  If  crosses  and  tomb 
stones  could  be  erected,  on  the  water  as  on  the  Western  deserts, 
where  they  indicate  the  resting-places  of  white  men  killed  by 
savages  or  by  the  elements,  the  whole  route  of  the  emigrant 
vessel  from  Europe  to  America  would  long  since  have  assumed 
the  appearance  of  crowded  cemeteries.  And,  what  is  still  worse, 
the  sufferings  of  the  emigrants  seem  destined  to  last  for  ever. 
The  experience  of  one  does  not  help  the  other,  for  the  emigrants, 
after  their  arrival  in  America,  disperse  into  all  parts  of  the  great 
continent.  They  seldom  bring  charges  or  make  complaints,  being 


44  BONDING  AND    COMMUTING. 

satisfied  that  they  will  not  be  heard,  or  being  eager  to  reach  their 
new  homes.  Only  here  and  there  some  victims  tell  of  their  ill- 
treatment,  and  it  is  almost  exclusively  upon  their  recitals,  and 
upon  the  meagre  official  data,  that  we  have  to  rely  for  a  history 
of  later  emigration. 

immigration  to       During  the  ten  years  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1819,  the 

1819^9.         '  immigration  to  New  York  was  very  small.     In  the  first  five  years, 

viz.,  from  1819  to  1824,  it  amounted  to  a  little  more  than  4,000 

per  annum;  while  from  1825  to  1829,  it  rose  to  an  average  of 

12,328  per  year. 

poverty  of  emi-  A  large  majority  were  very  poor.  "While  their  influx  contri 
buted  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country,  it  injured  the 
domestic  poor,  as  it  necessarily  imposed  heavier  expenses  on 
the  city  government  in  providing  for  those  who  from  any  cause 
became  sick  or  destitute. 

comptroller        "  Prior  to  1817,"  says  Comptroller  John  Ewen,  in  his  report 


1  184(3)  "when  the  foreign  poor  did  not  amount  to  one-fourth 


for 

foreign  poor.  of  t!ie  present  number,  the  Corporation  (of  the  city  of  New  York) 

received  from  the  State  one-third  of  the  auction  duties  collected 
in  this  city  on  the  sale  of  foreign  goods,  as  an  indemnity  for  their 
support.  This  provision,  amounting  annually  to  upwards  of 
$YO,000,  was  subsequently  withdrawn,  and  an  annual  payment 
of  $10,000  substituted  instead  ;  since  then  the  State  has  received 
over  six  millions  of  dollars  from  auctions  in  this  city,  and  only 
$53,000  from  other  parts  of  the  State.  This  annual  payment, 
however,  proved  insufficient,  in  consequence  of  the  arrival  of 
foreign  paupers,  who,  in  some  instances,  within  a  day  or  two 
after  landing,  where  taken  from  the  wharves  in  large  numbers, 
in  a  state  of  destitution,  and  sent  to  the  Almshouse.  To  protect 
the  city  against  such  extraordinary  expenditures,  the  Legislature 
e  State,  on  February  11,  1824,  passed  an  act  'Concerning 
passengers  in  vessels  coming  to  the  port  of  New  York.'  This 
act,  commonly  called  the  '  Passenger  Act,'  required  every  master 
or  commander  of  any  ship,  or  other  vessel,  arriving  at  the  port 
of  New  York,  from  any  country  out  of  the  United  States,  or 
from  any  other  of  the  United  States  than  the  State  of  New  York, 
to  make,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  arrival  of  such  ship 
or  vessel,  '  a  report  in  writing,  on  oath  or  affirmation,  to  the 


.BONDING  AND    COMMUTING.  45 

Major  of  the  city  of  ]STew  York,  or,  in  case  of  his  sickness  or 
absence,  to  the  Recorder  of  the  said  city,  of  the  name,  place  of 
birth,  and  last  legal  settlement,  age,  and  occupation,  of  every 
person  who  shall  have  been  brought  as  a  passenger  in  such  ship 
or  vessel  on  her  last  voyage.'  Said  act  also  authorized  the  Mayor 
cto  require,  by  a  short  endorsement  on  the  aforesaid  report,  every 
such  master  or  commander  of  any  ship  or  vessel  to  be  bound  with 
two  sufficient  sureties  (to  be  approved  of  by  the  said  Mayor  or 
Recorder)  to  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  in  such  sum  as  the  Mayor  or  Recorder  might  think 
proper,  not  exceeding  three  hundred  dollars  for  each  passenger, 
not  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to  indemnify  and  keep 
harmless  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  and  the 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  of  the  said  city,  and  their  successors,  from 
all  and  every  expense  or  charge  which  shall  or  may  be  incurred 
by  them,  for  the  maintenance  and  support  of  every  such  person, 
and  for  the  maintenance  and  support  of  the  child  or  children  of 
any  such  person,  which  may  be  born  after  such  importation,  in 
case  such  person  or  any  such  child  or  children  shall,  at  any  time 
within  two  years  from  the  date  of  such  bond,  become  chargeable 
to  the  said  city.'  " 

This  act  worked  tolerably  well  so  long  as  emigration  was  small,  insufficiency  of 
and  the  bondsmen,  and  the  passengers  landed  by  them,  could  be 
controlled.  Consequently,  we  do  not  hear  of  any  serious  com 
plaints  during  the  first  ten  years  of  its  operation ;  but,  as  soon  as 
emigration  assumed  greater  proportions,  the  law  became  sus 
ceptible  of  the  most  flagrant  abuses,  which  were  actually  practised 
under  it,  and  it  did  not  afford  the  slightest  indemnity  for  the 
maintenance  of  those  who  became  chargeable  to  the  city.  As  the 
brokers  engaged  in  the  bond  business  were  only  expected  to  pay 
for  the  bonded  passengers  in  case  of  their  sickness  or  destitution, 
a  large  field  for  the  exercise  of  fraud  and  deception  was  opened  to 
these  shrewd  speculators.  The  ship-owners  preferred  the  system 
of  bonding  to  any  other,  as  by  the  payment  of  a  trifle  it  exoner 
ated  them  from  all  liability,  and  as  they,  of  course,  received 
from  each  passenger  one  dollar,  which  was  included  in  the  price 
of  the  passage,  while  the  brokers  assumed  their  liability  at  prices 
varying  from  one  dollar  to  ten  cents  for  each  passenger,  or  still 


46  BONDING  AND    COMMUTING. 

cheaper,  as,  for  instance,  between  the  years  1828  and  1836,  when 
the  sum  paid  for  bonding  was  only  two  dollars  per  vessel, 
whether  the  number  of  passengers  was  great  or  small.  In  some 
cases,  however,  it  was  found  to  be  very  convenient  to  the 
passenger-carriers,  and  advantageous  to  the  city,  to  commute  for 
alien  passengers  instead  of  requiring  bonds,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
accept  a  specific  sum  of  no  less  than  one  and  no  more  than  ten 
ct  dollars  f°r  each,  and  to  waive  the  execution  of  bonds.  For  this 
ason,  the  Corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1839,  passed 
an  amendment  to  the  Passenger  Act,  which  authorized  the  Mayor 
to  commute.  Consequently,  when  the  agent  or  master  desired  to 
commute,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse  directed  an  ex 
amination  of  the  passengers,  and  reported  their  condition,  when 
the  Mayor  fixed  and  received  the  commutation,  and  the  master 
was  discharged  from  all  liability.  While  the  State  law  required 
that  bonds  should  be  given,  the  Corporation  ordinance  merely 
conferred  authority  on  the  Mayor  to  commute  in  such  cases,  and 
in  such  manner,  as  might  be  mutually  agreed  upon,  the  right  of 
bonding  being  reserved  specially  to  the  master. 

Abuse*  practis-  Thus  the  city  did  not  gain  much,  and  the  old  abuses  were 
continued  with  the  same  impunity.  In  fact,  the  entire  business 
became  a  private  traffic  between  a  set  of  low  and  subordinate  city 
officials,  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  band  of  greedy  and  unscrupulous 
brokers,  on  the  other.  It  was  a  sort  of  legalized  robbery,  the 
headquarters  of  which  was  at  the  City  Hall. 

An  ordinance  of  the  city  prescribed  that  the  Clerk  of  the 
Common  Council  should  receive  all  sums  paid  for  commutation 
by  alien  passengers,  account  monthly  for  them,  and  thereupon 
pay  over  the  money  received  by  him  to  the  Chamberlain  of  the 

Irof8pcie?ksmt?o  c^ty-     But  there  never  has  been  any  check  upon,  or  system  of 


tatioS  cm™™euy  examination  of,  the  accounts  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Common  Coun 
cil,  and  of  receipts  of  such  moneys,  either  to  detect  dishonest 
practices  or  to  correct  unintentional  error. 

It  seems  that,  from  the  first  day  of  the  application  of  the 
Passenger  Act  of  1824  clown  to  1842,  all  the  moneys  for  com 
muted  alien  passengers  were  received  by  a  certain  John  Ahem,  a 
defaulter  to  the  city  in  a  very  large  amount,  who  first  was  private 
clerk  to  General  Morton,  the  Clerk  of  the  Common  Council3  or  a 


BONDING  AND    COMMUTING.  47 

subordinate  in  his  office.  Said  Ahern  kept  no  regular  books  of  J 
account,  or  vouchers,  but  made  entries,  or  omitted  to  make  them, 
as  he  saw  fit.  In  1834,  the  Common  Council  created  the  office 
of  Clerk  to  the  Major,  and  appointed  this  man,  Ahern,  to  that 
office,  General  Morton  still  remaining  Clerk  to  the  Common 
Council.  Ahem  continued  under  him  to  perform  the  same  ser 
vices  as  when  a  private  clerk,  or  subordinate,  in  Morton's  office, 
and  attended  to  the  returns  of  captains  of  vessels,  the  receipt  of 
commutation  moneys,  and  other  fees  receivable  by  the  Clerk  of  the 
Common  Council.  The  moneys  were  paid  by  Ahern  to  the  Clerk 
of  the  Common  Council,  and  by  that  officer,  under  his  own  name, 
returned  to  the  Comptroller. 

Under  the  successors  of  General  Morton,  who  died  in  1836, 
Ahern  continued  to  perform  the  same  duties,  made  similar  re 
turns,  which,  without  being  first  examined,  were  made  a  part  of 
the  County  Clerk's  returns  to  the  Comptroller.  During  all  these 
different  clerkships,  until  December,  1842,  the  returns  of  captains 
of  vessels,  and  the  bonds  taken,  were  sent  to  the  office  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse,  to  enable  them  to  ascertain, 
when  persons  applied  to  them  at  that  office  for  assistance,  whether 
such  persons  had  been  bonded,  so  that  the  sureties  might  be 
called  upon  for  their  support;  or  whether  they  had  been  com 
muted  for,  and  were  to  be  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  city. 
Xo  account  or  memorandum  has  been  kept  in  the  office  of  the 
Clerk  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  number  of  passengers  com 
muted  for,  or  the  amount  of  moneys  received  for  the  commutation 
of  passengers. 

This  utter  neglect  of  supervision  or  control  existed  for  about 
eighteen  years,  without  even  exciting  any  suspicion.  At  last,  in 
1842,  the  impropriety  of  this  course  became  so  apparent  that 
Mr.  Underwood,  Alderman  of  the  Third  Ward,  at  the  meeting 
of  September  12,  offered  a  resolution  appointing  a  committee  of 
three,  to  examine  into  and  report  upon  the  subjects  of  reporting, 

,  '  *.•  *  T    ^  j     dermen,  1842. 

bonding,  and  commuting  ot  passengers,  and  the  course  pursued 
in  relation  to  aliens  and  others  who  had  made  application  to  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse  for  relief. 

This  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  John  A.  Underwood,  H. 
W.  Bonnel,  and  Ilobert  Jones,  thoroughly  performed  their  ardu- 


48  BONDING  AND    COMMUTING. 

ous  duties,  and,  after  carefully  comparing  the  books  and  returns 
of  the  shipping  merchants,  the  health  officer,  and  the  Custom 
House  with  the  statements  kept  in  the  City  Hall,  on  March  11, 
1843,  reported  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  It  would  lead  us  be 
yond  the  limits  of  this  essay  to  enter  into  the  particulars  of  their 
investigation,  but  a  few  of  the  facts,  corroborated  by  the  fullest 
evidence,  will  show  how  business  was  managed  in  the  County 
Clerk's  Office. 

Report  of  same.  "  All  the  accounts,"  says  the  report  just  mentioned,  "from  De 
cember,  1836,  to  July,  1842,  contain  the  names  of  vessels  in  which 
passengers  arrived,  whether  commuted  for  or  bonded ;  but  the 
whole  business  previous  to  June,  1837,  was  conducted  without 
regard  to  detail,  perspicuity,  or  regularity  in  the  Mayor's  Office, 
the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Common  Council,  and  the  Comp 
troller's  Office,  and  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  what  amount 
of  money  was  or  should  have  been  paid  previous  to  the  dates 
last  mentioned.  It  has,  however,  been  discovered  that  moneys 
were  received  for  commuting  and  bonding  passengers  previous  to 
June,  1837,  which  were  never  paid  into  the  city  treasury,  but  it 
would  be  useless  to  ascertain  what  amount  of  such  moneys  was 
withheld,  or  by  whom  they  were  misapplied. 

"From  June  1,  1837,  to  July  2,  1842,  the  deficiencies  for 
bonds  and  commutations,  in  accounts  rendered  to  the  Comp 
troller,  amounted  to  $8,019  25.  The  number  of  passengers  who 
were  reported  to  the  Comptroller  as  having  been  commuted  for 
sums  less  than  were  recommended  by  the  agent  of  the  Commis 
sioners  of  the  Almshouse,  but  in  relation  to  which  neither  receipts 
nor  accounts  had  been  obtained,  was  8,965 ;  and  the  passengers 
who  had  arrived  from  foreign  countries,  in  vessels  bringing 
ten  or  more  passengers,  none  of  whom  had  been  accounted  for, 
were  1,846." 

insult  of  inve*  The  investigations  of  this  committee,  and  the  changes  pro- 
feporf.n  and  posed  by  them  in  the  supervision  of  the  subordinate  officers, 
effected  a  reform  in  the  execution  of  the  acts  bearing  upon  immi 
gration,  but,  nevertheless,  the  city  was  not  greatly  benefited  by 
the  change.  With  the  daily  increasing  immigration,  the  profits 
growing  out  of  the  bonding  system  to  the  brokers  became  larger, 
and,  with  keen  attention  to  pecuniary  gain,  these  unscrupulous 


BONDING  AND    COMMUTING.  49 

men  appropriated  to  themselves  what,  of  right,  belonged  to  the 
city.  They  received,  as  before  stated,  from  the  ship-owners  the 
sum  of  one  dollar  for  each  bonded  passenger. 

"  These  persons,"  says  Comptroller  John  Ewen,  in  his  report  comptroller 
for  1S45,  "although  worth  the  amount  for  which  they  may  be- 
come  liable  for  passengers  in  each  particular  case,  afford  but  little 
indemnity  to  the  Corporation  for  an.y  considerable  number  of  the 
bonded  passengers,  should  they  from  any  unforeseen  calamity  be 
thrown  upon  the  city  for  support,  several  individuals  being 
bondsmen  for  over  $1,000,000  each.  The  aggregate  of  the  bonds 
taken  for  the  average  number  annually  bonded  during  the  last 
three  years  amounted  to  $16,149,600,  and  for  the  number  bonded 
last  year  to  $21,320,400.  Some  of  those  bonded  are  so  disguised 
in  the  description  rendered  as  scarcely  to  be  identified  six  months 
after  landing,  and  become  inmates  of  the  Almshouse,  or  are  com 
mitted  by  the  magistrates  as  vagrants,  and  in  some  shape  main 
tained  by  the  city.  A  bonded  passenger,  over  fifty  years  of  age, 
applied  at  the  Mayor's  Office  sorr  e  time  since  for  relief,  whoso 
age  was  set  down  in  the  list  of  passengers  at  twenty  years. 

"  The  Mayor  is  authorized,  by  an  ordinance  of  the  Corporation, 
to  receive  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  ten  dollars  for  each 
passenger  as  a  commutation  of  such  bonds ;  but,  as  this  is  entirely  op 
tional  with  the  party,  the  greater  number  are  bonded.  The  number 
of  foreign  passengers  arriving  annually  at  this  port,  within  the  last 
three  years,  has  averaged  60,539 ;  the  number  annually  bonded 
within  the  same  period,  53,832 ;  and  the  number  annually  com 
muted  in  the  same  time,  6,707,  or  about  one-ninth  of  the  whole 
number. 

"  It  would  be  more  advantageous  to  the  city  to  receive  the 
sum  of  one  dollar  for  each  passenger,  now  paid  to  individuals, 
than  to  take  the  bonds.  A  large  amount  would  then  be  annually 
received  by  the  Corporation  towards  the  support  of  foreign  poor ; 
and  in  case  any  of  the  passengers  arriving  at  this  port  should, 
upon  examination,  prove  to  be  paupers  sent  here  from  the  par 
ishes  of  Europe,  they  could,  with  the  avails  of  this  fund,  be  sent 
back  to  the  places  from  whence  they  were  brougjit ;  which  would 
have  a  strong  tendency  to  discourage  a  repetition  of  such  prac 
tices. 


50  PRIVATE   HOSPITALS  FOR  IMMIGRANTS. 

"  The  number  of  passengers  arriving  at  this  port  during  the 
last  three  years  amounted  to  181,615,  of  which  20,119  were  com 
muted  .  "  .  $21,452  IT 

Received   on   account   of  passengers  bonded  the 

sum  of  .  19,939  28 


Making  a  total  receipt  from  these  passengers  of     .       $41,391  45 
The  whole  number  of  passengers  which  arrived,  at 

one  dollar  each,  would  have  amounted  to        .       181,615  00 

Whereby  the  city  wrould  have  received  in  addition 

the  sum  of $140,223  55 

or  $46,744  51  per  annum  paid  to  individuals,  as  before  stated." 

During  all  that  time,  those  who  became  chargeable  were  sent 
to  the  Almshouse,  and  the  bondsmen  paid  the  expenses  of  their 
board  to  the  city  authorities. 

Private  hospt-  Even  this  arrangement,  though  pecuniarily  advantageous,  only 
grant  sick,  excited  cupidity,  and  the  bondsmen  concluded  to  support  the 
sick  and  indigent  at  private  poor-houses  and  hospitals,  where  they 
could  sustain  them  at  rates  lower  than  those  charged  by  the 
Almshouse  department.  Experience  having  proved  the  plan 
feasible  and  profitable,  these  establishments  soon  became  numer 
ous,  some  being  conducted  by  the  passenger-shippers  and  others 
maintained  by  individuals,  whose  profits  and  business  were  con 
fined  alone  to  the  medical  care  or  temporary  maintenance  of  the 
pauper  or  unfortunate  emigrant.  To  this  latter  class  of  establish 
ments,  on  account  of  their  cheapness,  many  merchants  and  pas 
senger  agents  transferred  the  destitute ;  but  this  system  was  a&so- 
Their  abuses,  dated  with  many  grave  and  flagrant  abuses.  These  evils  gradually 
attracted  public  attention,  and  the  various  emigrant  societies  urged 
the  necessity  of  a  prompt  and  radical  change. 

On  February  2,  1846,  the  Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen  of 
the   city  of  New   York  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Purser,  Gilbert,  and  Candee,  relative  to  the  treatment  of 
investigation  of  certain  emigrants  in  a  place  designated   "Tapscott  Poor-House 
Hospital."     This  institution  was  established  by  the  firm  of 
,W.  &  J.  T.  Tapscott,  passenger-brokers  in  South  Street,  New 
A~I:  York,  and  situated  in  North  Sixth  Street,  in  the  then  town  of 
Williamsburg. 


PRIVATE   HOSPITALS   FOE  IMMIGRANTS.  51 

The  preamble  and  resolution  read  as  follows  : 

"  Whereas,  The  affidavits  of  William  Long  and  others,  relative 
to  the  unwholesome  food  furnished  to  destitute  and  unfortunate 
emigrants  at  a  place  denominated  c  Tapscott's  Poor-House  and 
Hospital,'  reveal  a  system  of  flagrant  outrage  and  cupidity,  and 
demand  the  instant  investigation  of  the  Common  Council  ; 

"And  whereas,  The.  present  mode  of  landing  alien  passengers 
has  pastured  a  class  of  unprincipled  brokers,  wTho,  apparently  irre 
sponsible  to  any  authority,  continue  to  realize  fortunes  by  inflict 
ing  inhuman  wrongs  upon  the  alien  stranger  ;  therefore, 

"  fiesolved,  That  a  special  committee  be  appointed  to  investi 
gate  the  case  of  the  unfortunate  emigrants,  and  that  the  commit 
tee  be  requested  to  report  at  the  next  meeting." 

The  affidavits  referred  to  above  of  William  Long,  Thomas 
Farrell,  Daniel  Kelleher,  John  Egan,  Thomas  Judge,  Owny 
Hogan,  and  Henry  ^ulholland,  sworn  to  on  January  30,  1846, 
say,  that  the  deponents  were  induced  to  emigrate  to  this  country 
upon  the  representations  of  ship-brokers  and  their  runners ;  that 
upon  arriving  in  this  country  they  found  it  impossible  to  obtain 
work,  and  applied  to  the  agents  of  these  ships,  and  offered  to 
work  for  their  board ;  that  these  agents  sent  them  to  Tapscott's 
Poor-House  and  Hospital,  where  they  were  obliged  to  do  laboring 
work,  digging,  and  wheeling. 

"  And  we  further  depose  and  say  that  the  bread  furnished  us 
was  totally  unfit  for  use,  and  that  the  black  biscuit  shown  the 
Mayor  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  bread  which  we  were  compelled  to 
eat ;  that  the  breakfast  furnished  us  was  composed  of  a  species  of 
meal  so  black  as  to  be  unfit  for  use,  and  to  that  was  added  molasses 
and  made  into  a  pottage ;  that  our  dinner  was  at  times  salt  fish 
and  the  before-mentioned  bread,  and  at  other  times  of  refuse  grease 
with  other  mixtures  collected  from  the  ships  during  their  trips 
across  the  Atlantic :  '  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  rich  men's 
table.' 

"  And  we  do  further  depose  and  say  that  tnere  are  inmates  of 
the  above  establishment  who  are  lying  sick  and  in  the  most  piti 
ful  and  wretched  condition  of  suffering,  quite  unable  to  help 


52  PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOR  IMMIGRANTS. 

themselves,  and  compelled  to  eat  the  food  above  described ;  that 
from  the  effects  of  eating  such  food  we  have  been  reduced  to 
such  a  state  of  health  as  to  be  unable  to  work,  and  in  consequence 
orders  were  given  to  stop  our  supplies,  and  we  have  ~been  without 
food  since  yesterday  morning" 
visit  of  commit-  In  consequence  of  these  statements,  the  citizens  ofWilliams- 

tee  of  citizens  .  -r^i  r\    -4  ^  A  /•»         TIT  -IT 

burRWtoTliTap-  urS?  on  -t  ebruary  2, 1846,  called  a  public  meeting,  and  appointed 
•taf,  MdflSeir a  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  H.  Fitzgerald,  A.  P.  Moon,  and 
Michael  McCaffrey,  for  the  purpose  of  enquiring  as  to  the  mode 
of  treatment  carried  out  in  the  establishment  of  Messrs.  Tapscott 
&  Co.  On  February  3,  at  the  request  and  solicitation  of  the  same 
Messrs.  Tapscott,  they  visited  the  said  establishment,  which  visit 
they  describe  as  follows :  "  To  our  utter  astonishment,  even  hor 
ror,  we  found  it,  if  possible,  even  worse  than  represented,  exhibit 
ing  a  state  of  misery  and  wretchedness  not  to  be  borne  or  counte 
nanced  by  any  civilized  community ;  the  situation,  fare,  etc.,  of  the 
occupants  being  worse,  infinitely  worse,  if  we  may  be  allowed 
the  term,  than  that  of  those  in  similar  institutions  (by  name) 
attached  to  or  connected  with  our  common  prisons.  We  have, 
therefore,  come  to  the  conclusion,  and  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  we 
firmly  believe  the  statements  made  in  the  affidavits  of  William 
Long  and  others  in  every  particular  literally  true ;  and  that  the 
deplorable  condition  of  the  unfortunate  (women  particularly)  dupes 
of  the  Messrs.  Tapscott  in  this  same  establishment  demands  and 
requires  the  earliest  possible  attention  from  the  friends  of  s-ulfer- 
ing  humanity.  Since  we  have  visited  this  c  poor  house '  the  com 
mittee  procured  comfortable  situations  and  homes  for  those  of  the 
female  residents  of  this  modern  but  altogether  novel  prison-house. 
We  now  boldly — yes,  publicly — challenge  and  defy  the  Messrs. 
Tapscott,  or  any  of  their  friends,  to  an  investigation,  proof,  or  con 
viction.  Dare  they  accept  ?  " 


Visit  of  Commit 


tee  of  Board       A  few  days  later,  the  Committee  of  the  New  York  Board  of 

of      Assistant  J 

Assistant  Aldermen  likewise  personally  inspected  the  premises 
in  question,  when  every  reasonable  facility  of  examination  was 
afforded  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller,  the  superintendents.  Though 
the  visit  must  have  been  anticipated,  the  condition  of  the  building 
appeared  very  unsatisfactory,  both  as  regarded  cleanliness  and 
comfort.  The  number  of  persons  in  the  institution  appeared  to 


PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOK  IMMIGRANTS.  53 

to  be  from  twenty-five  to  thirty,  but  it  occasionally  contained  a 
larger  number.  The  superintendent  spoke  favorably  of  the  diet 
and  treatment,  in  which  opinion  some  of  the  inmates  concurred, 
though  in  a  manner  evidently  constrained.  A  female  witness,  in 
deed,  who  was  examined  at  this  interview,  acknowledged  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee,  who  had  an  opportunity  of  speaking 
to  her  privately,  "  that,  if  she  had  told  the  truth,  she  would  have 
seen  the  road  mighty  soon."  The  Committee  of  the  citizens  of 
Williamsburg,  above  referred  to,  obtained  from  the-  inmates  a 
direct  acknowledgment  of  the  facts  sworn  to  in  the  affidavits  of 
Long  and  others.  These  gentlemen,  from  personal  and  prompt 
inspection,  convinced  of  the  treatment  and  suffering  of  the  in 
mates,  forwarded  them  articles  of  food. 

The  comprehensive  testimony  fully  confirmed  the  complaints. 
In  relation  to  the  food,  some  twenty  witnesses  distinctly  swore 
that  the  biscuit  was  generally  "  blue  moulded,"  and  offensive  to 
"  taste  and  smell ;  "  and  the  samples,  though  sworn  to  be  of  the 
best  description  distributed,  were  dark  and  hard,  and  unsuited  for 
the  support  of  the  females  and  children  at  the  "  Poor-House  and 
Hospital." 

It  appeared,  under  oath,  that  the  biscuit  was  frequently  given 
to  the  hogs — the  inmates  preferring  to  go  hungry  and  supperless 
to  bed.  The  fish  was  represented  to  have  been  bad,  and  to  have 
fallen  to  pieces  when  put  into  water  to  boil ;  and  all  affirmed,  who 
were  beyond  the  influence  of  the  establishment,  that  the  food  sup 
plied  was  equally  deficient  in  quantity  and  quality.  The  soup 
was  usually  innutritions,  and  manufactured  from  grease  or  mutton 
tallow,  which  was  kept  in  the  superintendent's  store-room  to  be 
employed  for  that  purpose.  The  meat  used  is  stated  to  have 
been  musty  and  dark,  and  the  bread  "  distributed  twice  a  week  in 
slices  (to  use  the  language  of  a  witness)  as  big  as  your  hand,  and 
not  enough  for  a  child." 

These  statements  were  corroborated  partly  by  the  admissions 
of  Tapscott  and  his  employees,  as  well  as  by  about  fifty  affidavits, 
the  most  important  of  which  may  find  place  here. 

Margaret  Bertram,  an  inmate  for  nearly  twelve  months  in  the  A^^lt3  of  la~ 
institution,  "  recollects  that  two  children  died  there.     The  mother 
of  one  died  at  sea ;   no  particular  nurse  took  charge  of  it ;  several 


54  PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOE   IMMIGRANTS. 

of  us  had  milk,  perhaps  four  or  five,  and  each  took  it  by  turns  ;  it 
died  of  summer  complaint.  The  other  infant  died  five  weeks 
since ;  it  was  brought  here  by  a  woman  not  its  mother ;  it  was  a 
weakly  child ;  we  suckled  it  turn  and  turn  about ;  no  particular 
person  attended  to  it ;  several  now  in  the  New  York  Almshouse 
nursed  it." 

Fannie  Mitchell,  an  intelligent  young  married  woman,  now  at 
Bellevue,  stated  under  oath  the  following  facts :  "  That  the  child  re 
ferred  to  by  Margaret  Bertram  was  sent  over  from  Tapscott's  office, 
and  lived  about  a  fortnight  afterwards ;  that  it  came  on  Saturday, 
and  Mr.  Tapscott  called  on  the  Sunday  following,  and,  an  objection 
being  made  to  nurse  the  infant,  declared  that  any  one  who  refused 
should  be  turned  right  out  of  doors.  Under  such  circumstances 
the  women  consented,  and  took  it  turn  and  turn  about." 

Ann  Doyle :  "  "While  I  was  there,  some  of  the  women  induced 
a  man  who  was  cutting  up  some  meat  to  give  them  a  few  slices, 
one  of  the  women  alleging  that  she  wanted  it  for  a  sick  child. 
They  obtained  about  a  pound,  and  Miller  (the  superintendent) 
discovered  it  in  the  evening,  and  went  and  informed  Tapscott,  who 
came  the  next  morning  and  turned  the  women  out ;  one  had  the 
sick  child  before  mentioned." 

"  Another  transaction,  sustained  under  oath,  we  introduce," 
says  the  Committee,  "as  a  further  illustration  of  the  disregard 
manifested  for  the  health  of  the  inmates,  and  the  sanitary  usages 
observed  even  by  uncivilized  communities.  It  iippears  that,  of 
the  pigs  during  the  summer,  a  sow  became  sick  and  nearly  dead," 
and  that  in  this  condition  the  superintendent  directed  it  to  be 
killed  by  one  Lavendel ;  that  the  sow  was  afterwards  scalded,  cut 
up,  and  on  the  following  day  served  at  table,  but  it  was  so  "  un 
pleasant  to  the  taste  that  the  witnesses  were  unable  to  eat  it." 

Said  Lavendel,  an  emigrant  from  Ireland,  and  for  some  time 
after  his  arrival  an  inmate  of  the  house,  further  states,  on  oath, 
that  a  quantity  of  mutton-hams  were  brought  there  (to  the  hos 
pital),  and  served  up  for  dinner,  which  stunk  and  were  unfit  for 
use ;  oatmeal  porridge  was  also  served  up  for  breakfast,  which  was 
.bitter  to  the  taste,  and  smelled  bad ;  also  rice  for  dinner  which  was 
unfit  for  use,  and  smelled  bad.  Deponent  was  compelled  to  eat 
••.what  was  put  on  the  table  or  go  without  food.  He  further  states 


PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOE  IMMIGRANTS.  55 

that  the  allowance  of  meat  for  one  week,  including  bone,  was 
about  one  pound ;  that  he  was  sick,  and  kept  his  bed  about  five 
days  before  he  received  any  medical  attendance,  although  he  re 
quested  it  previously;  and  that  the  sleeping  apartments  were 
ill  thy,  uncomfortable,  and  filled  with  vermin. 

Dr.  E.  L.  Cooke,  the  attending  physician,  says :  "  The  cleanliness  T 
there  is  not  remarkable ;  have  observed  this,  and  required  them  to  ( 
keep  it  cleaner ;  but  the  matron  has  answered  that  it  was  difficult 
to  get  the  inmates  to  perform  such  labor.  In  other  institutions 
of  a  public  character,  better  discipline  would  prevail ;  but  the  in 
mates  do  not  feel  themselves  under  sufficient  restriction.  The 
general  want  of  cleanliness  observable,  he  presumes,  might  be  attri 
buted  to  this  cause  and  the  laziness  of  the  inmates.  Thinks  the 
inmates  are  not  examined  when  they  enter,  or  aware  that  there  are 
any  specific  regulations  with  regard  to  cleanliness.  ~No  wearing 
apparel  has,  to  his  knowledge,  been  distributed  among  the  sick. 
With  reference  to  diet,  what  he  directed  for  the  patients  he  be 
lieved  was  supplied.  The  matron  informed  him  so  ;  have  never 
enquired  of  the  patients  ;  never  observed  any  peculiar  appearance 
of  disease  among  those  who  had  been  long  inmates.  The  institu 
tion,  as  regards  diet,  general  comfort,  and  medical  treatment,  can 
not  be  compared  with  similar  public  institutions." 

"Your  Committee  conceive" — we  give  here  again  their  ow 
words — « that  the  evidence  before  them  is  sufficient  to  convince  !S°f  private 
the  Common  Council  and  the  Legislature  that  poor-houses  and 
hospitals  should  not  be  continued  by  passenger  carriers.  The  pro 
prietors  are  certainly  not  likely  to  provide  liberally  for  the  neces 
sities,  much  less  the  comforts,  of  a  household  which  is  a  constant 
source  of  individual  trouble  and  expense.  The  same  selfishness  that 
would  induce  them  to  evade  relieving  the  applicants  would  dic 
tate  the  reduction  of  their  fare,  when  admitted  to  the  work-house, 
to  the  lowest  standard,  both  of  quality  and  quantity.  Neither 
the  Common  Council  nor  the  Legislature  could  feel  disposed  to 
permit  these  irresponsible  establishments  to  multiply,  a  result 
which  must  occur,  however,  unless  the  law  is  amended.  The 
unwholesome  nature  of  the  food,  and  the  treatment  of  the  help 
less  infants,  is  in  evidence  before  you.  No  wearing  apparel  ap 
pears  to  have  been  distributed  among  the  sick  or  well,  with  some 


56  PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOR  IMMIGRANTS. 

trifling  unimportant  exception ;  and  Margaret  Bertram,  an  inmate 
nearly  a  year,  and  very  destitute,  acknowledge^  that  she  never 
received,  with  the  exception  of  an  order  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  any 
clothing  whatever.  Even  on  the  confinement  of  any  of  the 
women,  the  other  women  have  to  provide  the  requisite  articles  of 
clothing  for  the  infants.  No  attention  is  paid  to  the  education  of 
children  who  become  chargeable  to  these  brokers,  and  the  only 
boy  at  Tapscott's  work-house,  the  superintendent,  Mr.  Miller, 
stated,  was  held  back  from  school  for  want  of  clothing,  and  the 
proprietor  himself  acknowledged  that  he  did  not  know  whether 
he  went  to  school  or  not. 

of  "  The  accommodation  and  arrangements  of  the  house  preclude 
the  proper  separation  of  the  sexes,  and  the  moral  habits  of  the 
unfortunate  inmates  must  deteriorate.  The  sick  and  destitute,  the 
vicious  and  the  innocent,  are  gathered  together  promiscuously, 
without  any  of  the  ordinary  restraints  to  which,  perhaps,  in  a  dis 
tant  country,  they  have  been  subjected,  while  they  are  denied  the 
salutary  influence  of  even  police  regulations. 

"  These  facts,  which  rest  upon  sworn  testimony,  must  com 
mand  attention.  It  cannot  be  disputed  that  the  heavy  responsibi 
lities  connected  with  a  poor-house  and  hospital  should  be  transfer 
red  to  the  municipal  authorities.  The  health  and  character  of  our 
city,  and  humanity  to  the  alien  stranger,  are  involved  in  this 
measure. 

Feaciuto  gpa!n°ad-  "  ^e  grea^  acknowledged  inferiority  of  such  an  establishment 
§Spfta£lCit3rto  Bellevue  is  a  strong  incentive  to  the  destitute  to  obtain  ad 
mission  to  our  Almshouse  by  deception.  Aware  that  their  recep 
tion  and  continuance  in  the  Almshouse  depends  on  suppressing 
the  fact  of  being  chargeable  to  any  particular  passenger  broker, 
they  manufacture  facts  to  secure  better  fare  and  treatment.  In 
deed,  it  is  not  improbable,  though  no  direct  evidence  exists  before 
the  Committee,  that  they  have  co-operated  with,  the  pauper  in  the 
practice  of  these  frauds.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  thousands 
are  annually  relieved  from  the  city  treasury,  which  are  properly 
chargeable  to  the  bondsmen.  Intentional  inaccuracies  frequently 
appear  on  the  passenger  list  regarding  the  ages,  occupations,  and 
names  of  the  passengers,  with  the  view  of  transferring  legal  re 
sponsibility  from  the  carriers.  In  the  event  of  establishing  the 


PBIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOK  IMMIGKANTS.  57 

system  of  commutation,  tlie  duty  of  examining  the  emigrant  pas 
sengers  will  require  the  exercise  of  vigilance  and  honesty.  To  de 
ceive  the  Quarantine  officers,  and  obtain  permission  to  proceed 
immediately  to  the  city,  the  captains  of  vessels  dress  up  their  sick, 
and  similar  artifice  will  be  employed  to  evade  the  provisions  of 
the  proposed  law. 

"  The  German  and  other  emigrants  not  familiar  with  our 
language  are  liable  to  even  more  than  ordinary  imposition  and 
suffering.  £o  secure  the  assistance  from  the  bondsmen,  without 
which  in  the  winter  months  they  would  perish,  constantly  re 
quires  the  co-operation  of  the  officers  of  their  national  benevolent 
institutions ;  and  many  remarkable  instances  of  deception  and 
cruelty  have  become  knoAvn  to  your  Committee. 

"  Agents  are  sent  to  the  principal  cities  and  ports  of  Germany 
with  the  view  of  securing  passengers  for  some  particular  line  of 
vessels,  and  from  three  to  six  Rix  dollars  is  imposed  as  ( head '  or 
commutation  money,  though,  even  if  the  law  we  recommend 
was  adopted,  $1  25  (25  cents  for  hospital  fee)  would  be  the  actual 
outlay. 

"It  is  maintained  among  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  passenger  Bonds  annulled 
brokers  that  they  are  released  from  the  obligation  of  sustaining  ^ 
the  persons  bonded  whenever  convicted  of  an  offence  and  sen 
tenced  to  imprisonment.  Though  we  must  dissent  from  this 
opinion,  it  appears  to  have  been  formerly  acquiesced  in  by  the 
authorities,  or  to  have  escaped  their  examination.  The  commis 
sion  of  crime,  committals  for  misdemeanor  or  vagrancy,  serve  the 
selfish  interests  of  passenger  agents,  though  we  are  unwilling  to 
believe  that  the  practice  is  resorted  to  ordinarily.  Occasionally, 
however,  the  inmates  of  these  private  w^ork-houses  and  hospitals 
are  unwarrantably  consigned  to  the  Penitentiary  on  BlackwelFs 
Island.  Hugh  Graham,  who  was  a  sick  man,  was  sent  writh  eight 
others  to  be  disgraced  and  contaminated  in  one  of  our  worst 
prisons  for  insubordination.  He,  with  his  companions,  purchased 
bread,  and  even  ate  it,  without  permission  of  the  officials.  He 
was  taken  before  a  magistrate,  and  committed  without  even  being 
made  acquainted  with  his  crime  or  called  upon  for  defence. 

"  Another  illustration  of  the  feelings  governing  some  of  the  O'Connor's  case, 
passenger  earners  is  to  be  found  in  the  following  anecdote,  com- 


58  PEIVATE  HOSPITALS   FOE  IMMIGRANTS. 

municated  by  the  President  of  the  Irish  Emigrant  Society :  A 
man  named  O'Connor,  with  his  wife  and  three  children,  arrived 
in  this  country,  and,  having  contracted  a  fever  on  board  the  vessel^ 
was  detained  in  the  city  till  his  money  was  exhausted,  and  the 
bondsmen  were  applied  to  for  relief.  Recovering  sooner  than  the 
other  members  of  the  family,  he  set  out  for  St.  Louis,  where  his 
father  was  comfortably  settled,  and,  securing  the  necessary  funds, 
returned  with  the  fond  expectation  of  accompanying  his  wife  and 
children  to  their  new  home.  He  found,  however,  on  reaching  New 
York  that  his  wife  was  dead  and  his  children  shipped  to  Liver 
pool,  where  they  had  neither  friends  nor  relatives.  One  of  the 
children  died  on  the  passage,  and  of  the  others  no  tidings  have 
been  obtained,  though  diligent  enquiries  have  been  instituted. 
Messrs.  Tapscott  were  the  agents  and  bondsmen  in  this  case. 

"  With  the  gradual  but  certain  increase  of  immigration,  these 
evils  must  extend.  The  cupidity  of  the  proprietors  of  these  pri 
vate  establishments  threatens  even  the  health  of  our  city,  not  only 
from  nncleanliness,  but  the  introduction  of  cases  of  ship-fever. 

"  With  these  views,  your  Committee  respectfully  submit  the 
following  resolution  for  adoption : 

Resolution.  "  JResolved,  That  the  condition  of  Tapscott's  Poor-House  and 

Hospital,  and  the  evidence  relative  to  the  general  treatment  of  the 
inmates,  strongly  demand  a  change  in  the  present  system  of  bond 
ing  and  commuting  alien  passengers." 

second  commit-       During  the  summer  of  1846,  another  committee  of  investigation 

tee  of  Invest!-  ' 

loardof  Assfi£  was  appointed  from  the  same  Board,  relative  to  the  management 

!U'  of  an  emigrant  hospital  on  Manhattan  Island,  which  resulted  in 

confirming  the  opinion  that  such  irresponsible  institutions  were 

equally  disastrous  to  the  morals,  health,  and  happiness  of  those 

compelled  to  seek  a  temporary  asylum  in  them. 

The  report  expressed  strong  disapprobation  of  the  "  want  of 
comfort,  cleanliness,  and  health  prevailing,"  and  the  necessity  of 
the  employment  of  some  means  to  remove  the  evils.  After  the 
interference  of  the  committee,  some  improvement  occurred  in  the 
treatment  of  patients,  and  the  number  of  inmates  in  the  two- 
story  building,  about  46  feet  square,  was  reduced  from  120  to  80. 


PRIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOB  IMMIGRANTS.  59 

The  extreme  heat  of  the  summer,  and  the  want  of  cleanliness,  In£e08t,|*ajion  |$ 
neglect  of  ventilation,  and  poor  diet  at  this  hospital,  induced  the    Health- 
Mayor  to  summon  the  Board  of  Health.     A  committee  of  that 
body  examined  the  establishment,  and  reported  strongly  in  favor 
of  remedying  the  evils  connected  with  these  private  hospitals  and 
poor-houses,  and,  by  a  change  in  the  law,  urged  the  propriety  of 
confiding  in  the  city  authorities  the  charge  of  the  sick  and  desti 
tute  emigrants. 

"The  system  now  existing,"  says  the  report  of  Alderman  Keport  of  Aider- 
Purser,  from  which  we  have  quoted  the  above,  "  is  disgraceful  to  raeSigein  &e 
the  city,  and  unparalleled  in  Europe.  The  municipal  authorities  8ystem' 
are  divested  actually  of  the  power  of  investigating  and  relieving 
cases  of  severe  suffering  and  destitution.  A  ship  arrives  in  our 
port  with  five  hundred  emigrants;  a  broker,  irresponsible  in 
every  point  of  view,  after  examination,  agrees  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  supporting  those  that  may  become  chargeable 
within  two  years,  at  the  rate  of  forty  or  fifty  cents  a  head. 
Should  any  apply,  as  thousands  do,  annually,  to  the  Almshouse 
Commissioners  for  relief,  they  are  referred,  however  emergent 
and  pitiable  the  case,  to  this  broker,  and  his  personal  and  pecu 
niary  interest  dictates  refusal  or  delay.  If  compelled  to  provide 
for  the  unfortunate  a  temporary  shelter,  the  treatment  to  which 
they  are  exposed  is  calculated  to  break  their  spirits  and  smooth 
the  path  of  degradation  and  crime. 

"  A  proper  separation  of  the  sexes  is  wholly  neglected,  and 
the  young  and  innocent  female  is  exposed  to  temptation, 
and  her  mind,  at  least,  corrupted  by  infamous  association. 
The  destitution  of  the  healthy  emigrant  is  usually  only  tem 
porary,  and  their  future  destiny  governed,  to  a  great  extent, 
by  the  circumstances  into  which  they  are  thrown  at  their  arri 
val.  With  this  view  of  the  subject,  your  Committee  are  im 
pressed  with  the  conviction  that  legislative  interference  is  im 
peratively  demanded  in  justice  to  the  tax-payer  and  humanity 
to  the  emigrant." 

"  Your  Committee  have  before  them  a  memorial  in  favor  of  Memorial      of 

tiniprant    Bo- 

the  proposed  alteration  of  the  laws,  signed  by  the  acting  Presi-   Sesame!1  favor 
dents  of  the  Irish,  German,  British,  "Welsh,  and  Scotch  emigrant 
societies,  which  states  that  the  change  would  increase  the  revenue 


60  PKIVATE  HOSPITALS  FOK  IMMIGRANTS. 

of  the  city  and  secure  the  emigrants  from  the  frauds  now  prac 
tised  upon  them. 

"  Within  the  last  month,  nearly  five  hundred  emigrants  from 
Germany  were  sent  directly  from  the  ship  to  the  Almshouse, 
where  a  large  proportion  now  remain,  being  utterly  destitute  of 
means,  and  sent  out  at  the  expense  of  the  property-owners  in 
their  immediate  neighborhood.*  The  bondsmen  refuse  to  pay  the 
expenses  in  this  instance,  on  some  wholly  insufficient  pretence, 
and  the  city  will  be  most  probably  compelled  to  commence  suits 
for  the  recovery.  It  must  have  been  known  to  the  foreign  agents 
shipping  such  passengers  that  they  principally  consisted  of 
paupers.  "When  compelled  to  leave  the  ship,  they  took  refuge  on 
the  pier,  where  they  continued  until  the  city  authorities  removed 
them  to  Bellevue.  Utterly  destitute,  and  strangers  to  our 
language  and  country,  sick  from  the  effects  of  a  long  voyage  and 
indifferent  diet  and  accommodation,  these  people  became  an  im 
mediate  charge  upon  the  city,  and  yet  the  bondsmen  refuse  to 
indemnify  the  Corporation.  A  lighter  was  sent  by  the  agents  to 
take  off  the  whole  of  these  passengers,  with  the  view  of  sending 
them  to  Albany ;  but,  many  of  them  being  sick,  and  all  being 
penniless  and  without  means  of  supporting  themselves  for  that 
journey,  they  refused. 

"  In  the  event  of  the  bondsmen  sustaining  the  decrepit  or 
aged  for  the  full  period  of  two  years  required  by  law,  on  its  expi 
ration  they  are  thrown  upon  the  county  for  support.  Such  a 
class  of  persons  for  many  reasons  usually  remain  in  our  city ;  and, 
if  a  proper  system  of  commutation  prevailed,  a  fund  would  be 
raised  adequate  for  their  maintenance." 
Establishment  The  change  so  long  desired  by  all  disinterested  parties  was 

of  Emigration  .         *=>  «J 

effected  a  year  later  by  the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

*  The  emigrants  referred  to  were  poor  people  from  the  Odenwald,  who,  how 
ever,  had  not  been  sent  out  by  the  property-owners  in  their  immediate  neigh 
borhood,  but  at  the  expense  of  the  grand  ducal  government  of  Baden.  F.  K. 


CHAPTER   IY. 

AEEIYAL   IN   NEW  YORK — RTJNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES 

INLAND  VOYAGE. 

ALTHOUGH  in  point  of  time  anterior  to  the  period  of  which  we 
are  treating,  the  facts  which  constitute  the  basis  of  the  narrative 
of  this  chapter  refer  to  a  state  of  things  which,  in  a  greater  or 
lesser  degree,  had  existed  for  the  preceding  twenty  years,  but 
which  was  fully  exposed,  for  the  first  time,  only  by  the  careful 
official  investigation,  of  which  we  shall  speak  in  the  following. 

The  kind    of  fraud  and    imposition  on  emigrants  which  is  At  tempts  of 

i  .-IT  •  n  ,«ii  */•>•*•*     ,1  -•         Commissioners 

here  described  continued  until  the  year  18 DO.  that  is,  up  to  the   of  Emigration 

•f  '  to    prevent 

time  when,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the  Commissioners  of  SvfmJ  onemi- 
Emigration  secured  the  compulsory  landing  of  emigrants  at  the  * 
Castle  Garden  depot,  which  gave  them  the  control  over  them 
necessary  for  their  protection.  "Not  having  sufficient  means  at 
their  command,  the  Commissioners  for  years  had  tried  in  vain  to 
protect  the  emigrants  on  their  landing.  They  perceived  the  real 
source  of  the  evil  from  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  Board,  and 
did  all  in  their  power  to  do  away  with  it.  Complying  with  their 
urgent  solicitations,  the  Legislature,  in  October  11, 1847,  appoint 
ed  a  select  committee  to  investigate  the  frauds  and  impositions 
alleged  to  be  practised  upon  emigrant  passengers  arriving  in  this 
State.  The  Committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Thomas  Smith,  committee  of 
A.  S.  TJpham,  D.  S.  McNamara,  A.  E.  Chandler,  and  James  C. 
Rutherford,  cheerfully  assumed  and  most  efficiently  discharged 
their  duties.  It  is  due  to  the  indefatigable  and  energetic  efforts 
of  these  gentlemen  that  we  have  the  documentary  evidence  of  all 
sorts  of  frauds  practised  upon  emigrants.  In  order  to  make  a 
thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  committed  to  their  charge, 
they  went  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  made  themselves  ac 
quainted  with  the  various  stages  through  which  the  emigrants 
passed  after  landing,  till  they  got  on  board  the  steamboats  to  come 


62  RlJNNEKS  -  BOAEDING-IIOUSES. 

up  tlie  river.  It  is  their  official  report,  with  its  accompanying 
documents,  containing  the  examinations  of  the  different  parties 
and  witnesses,  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  following  state 
ments  : 

"  ^our  Committee  must  confess,"  the  report  says,  "  that  they 
us-  had  no  conception  of,  nor  would  they  have  believed,  the  extent  to 
u  keepers  which  these  frauds  and  outrages  have  been  practised,  until  they 
came  to  investigate  them.  As  soon  as  a  ship,  loaded  writh  these 
emigrants,  reaches  our  shores,  it  is  boarded  by  a  class  of  men 
called  runners,  either  in  the  employment  of  boarding-house  keepers 
or  forwarding  establishments,  soliciting  custom  for  their  employ 
ers.  In  order  the  more  successfully  to  enable  the  latter  to  gain 
the  confidence  of  the  emigrant,  they  usually  employ  those  who  can 
speak  the  same  language  with  the  emigrant.  If  they  cannot  suc 
ceed  in  any  other  way  in  getting  possession  and  control  over  the 
object  of  their  prey,  they  proceed  to  take  charge  of  their  luggage, 
and  take  it  to  some  boarding-house  for  safe-keeping,  generally 
under  the  assurance  that  they  will  charge  nothing  for  carriage- 
hire  or  storage.  In  this  way  they  are  induced  to  go  to  some  emi 
grant  boarding-house,  of  which  there  are  a  great  many  in  the  city, 
and  then  too  often  under  a  pretence  that  they  will  charge  but  a 
small  sum  for  meals  or  board.  The  keepers  of  these  houses  in 
duce  these  people  to  stay  a  few  days,  and,  when  they  come  to  leave, 
usually  charge  them  three  or  four  times  as  much  as  they  agreed 
or  expected  to  pay,  and  exorbitant  prices  for  storing  their  lug 
gage  ;  and,  in  case  of  their  inability  to  pay,  their  luggage  is  detain 
ed  as  security.  Some  of  these  runners  are  employed  by  the  month, 
and  some  work  upon  commission.  Where  they  are  in  the  em 
ployment  of  the  forwarding  establishments  or  passenger  offices,  and 
receive  a  commission  for  each  passenger  they  bring  in,  they  are,  in 
many  cases,  allowed  by  their  employers  to  charge  all  they  can  get 
over  a  certain  sum  for  transporting  the  passenger  to  a  particular 
place.  This,  it  will  be  seen,  stimulates  the  runners  to  great  exer 
tions,  not  only  to  get  as  many  passengers  as  possible,  but  to  get 
them  at  the  highest  possible  prices.  To  enable  them  to  carry  out 
their  designs,  all  sorts  of  falsehoods  are  resorted  to  to  mislead  and 
deceive  the  emigrant  as  to  the  prices  of  fare  and  mode  of  convey 
ance. 


u 


RlJNNEKS  -  BOAKDING-HOUSES.  63 

"  Your  Committee  have  been  shocked  to  find  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  frauds  committed  upon  these  innocent  and,  in  many 
cases,  ignorant  foreigners,  are  committed  by  their  own  country 
men  who  have  come  here  before  them  ;  for  wre  find  the  German 
preying  upon  the  German,  the  Irish  upon  the  Irish,  the  English 
upon  the  English,  etc.  ;  but  at  the  same  time  we  cannot  hold  our 
own  countrymen  entirely  guiltless,  for  many  of  them,  it  is  to  be 
regretted,  are  engaged  in  this  nefarious  business." 

It  was  then,  and  still  is,  the  law  of  the  State  of  New  York  state  law 
that  a  vessel  arriving  at  Quarantine  is  under  the  control  of  the 
health  officer,  and  that  consequently  the  ship-owners  can  exercise 
no  control  over  their  own  vessels  until  they  pass  out  of  the  hands 
of  that  officer. 

Until  ISM,  the  practice  was  for  him  to  license  small  schooners 
or  lighters,  by  which  all  the  passengers  discharged  at  the  Quaran 
tine  were  brought  to  the  city.  The  suffering  to  which  passengers 
were  exposed  by  this  mode  of  conveyance,  from  being  frequently 
many  hours  on  deck,  exposed  to  sun  and  rain,  and  frequently  ar 
riving  in  the  city  at  night,  induced  the  larger  shipping-houses  to 
cause  the  emigrants  to  be  brought  up  by  steamboats,  thus  greatly 
increasing  their  comfort.  The  practice  was  for  these  houses  to 
give  tbfiir  agents  an  order  on  the  Custom  House  to  receive  per 
mits  to  take  the  passengers  from  their  ships,  and  thus  to  secure  to 
them  the  exclusive  privilege  of  bringing  passengers  from  their 
ships.  Other  vessels,  and  especially  those  owned  by  smaller 
houses,  proceeded  at  once  directly  to  their  piers  in  the  city.  The  D^e^0°^  vr°dn 
larger  the  immigration  became,  the  more  profitable  it  was  for  the 
runners  to  get  hold  of  the  ships  ;  they  spared  no  effort  and  resort 
ed  to  all  kinds  of  tricks  and  devices  to  obtain  the  exclusive  con 
trol  of  the  emigrant  ships.  They  frequently  went  to  the  Custom 
House,  and,  under  false  pretences,  took  out  permits  without  the 
knowledge  or  consent  of  the  owners.  Captains  of  vessels,  which 
came  directly  to  the  city,  were  often  paid  several  hundred  dollars 
by  the  runners  for  the  mere  permission  to  board  their  ships  at 
Quarantine,  and  proceed  with  them  to  their  piers. 

"  It  is  not  uncommon,"  said  the  health  officer,  Dr.  Henry 
\ran  Hovenburgh,  in  his  examination,  "  after  the  vessel  is  cleared 
from  Quarantine,  for  eight  or  ten  boat-loads  of  runners  to  surround 


64  RUNNERS BOAKDING-HOUSES. 

it ;  they  are  desperate  men,  and  can  be  kept  off  only  by  an  armed 
force." 

This  state  of  things  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  order  to  pro 
perly  understand  the  dangers  to  which  the  emigrants  were  expos 
ed  on  their  arrival  in  the  port  of  New  York. 

Saano|       The  following  affidavits  will  more  fully  show  the  mode  of 

Emigrant  bo-  operations  of  these  runners,  and  of  the  establishments  in  whose 

interest  they  worked.    Thus,  R.  Schoyer,  being  duly  sworn,  says : 

"  I  am  a  Director  of  the  Netherland  Emigrant  Society.     The 

first  fraud  practised  upon  the  emigrant  is  this:   the  moment  a 

vessel  arrives  it  is  boarded  by  runners,  whose  first  object  appears 

to  be  to  get  emigrants  to  their  respective  public-houses.     Once 

there,  they  are  considered  sure  prey.     These  runners  represent 

the  interests  of  all  the  various  taverns  and  forwarding  lines. 

o 

Each  party  bringing  with  them  their  bullies  to  fight  off  their  op 
ponents,  the  emigrants  become  bewildered.  As  there  is  frequent 
bloodshed  upon  such  occasions,  the  strongest  party  carry  off  the 
emigrants.  Previously  to  going  to  the  taverns,  they  are  told  that 
meals  will  be  furnished  for  6 d.  each,  and  Gd.  for  lodging,  when,  in 
fact,  they  are  never  charged  less  than  2s.  and  often  §1,  per  meal ; 
and  their  baggage  is  held  until  all  is  paid.  The  next  ordeal 
•Booking.  '  through  which  the  emigrant  is  obliged  to  pass  is  called  c  booking,' 
by  which  is  meant  that  the  emigrant  is  taken  to  the  forwarding 
office,  and  then  induced  to  pay  his  money  for  the  fare  to  the 
"West.  The  emigrant  is  informed  that  that  is  the  only  office  in 
which  they  can  pay  their  money,  the  proprietors  thereof  being 
sole  owners  of  the  steamboats,  railroads,  and  canal-boats  through 
out  the  entire  route.  After  having  thus  gained  the  confidence  of 
the  emigrant,  he  unsuspectingly  pays  his  money,  upon  the  assu 
rance  that  he  will  have  no  more  to  pay.  The  money  received, 
the  runner  gets  one  dollar  for  every  passenger  booked,  besides  a 
salary  varying  from  $30  to  $100  per  month,  which  is  divided  with 
the  landlord." 

P.  II.  Hodenpyle,  being  sworn,  says :  "  I  am  agent  of  the 
Netherland  Emigrant  Society ;  have  been  since  April  last ;  I  have 
been  in  danger  frequently  of  personal  violence  from  the  runners ; 
they  are  Hollanders,  Germans,  English,  Irish,  etc.  There  have 
gone,  this  fall,  one  Hollander  and  two  German  runners  to  Eu- 


RUNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES.  65 

rope  to  establish  agencies  for  forwarding  passengers  from  New 
York  to  the  "Western  States  and  Territories." 

Charles  II.  Webb  deposes  under  oath :  "  I  am  Superintendent  Tt?u[™0o7  Brit- 
of  the  British  Protective  Emigrant  Society ;  have  occupied  the  EmSS°^2 
station  three  years.  From  my  own  knowledge,  I  have  known 
frauds  upon  emigrants.  One  of  the  common  frauds  practised  by 
the  emigrant  boarding-house  keepers  is  that  they  generally  have 
five  or  six  persons  about  their  establishments,  who,  if  they  cannot 
prevail  on  the  emigrant  to  accompany  them  to  the  boarding- 
house  they  represent,  when  coining  from  the  Quarantine  to  the 
city,  on  their  arrival  at  the  dock  seize  their  baggage  by  force, 
and  have  it  carried  by  cartmen,  who  are  privy  to  their  operations, 
to  the  boarding-houses.  With  the  baggage  once  in  the  house,  the 
emigrant,  if  dissatisfied  with  the  accommodation  and  wishes  his 
things  removed  to  another  place,  is  met  by  the  landlord  with  a 
charge  for  either  storage  or  one  day's  board,  compelling  him  to 
put  up  with  the  accommodations  offered  him,  or  pay  five  or  six 
dollars  without  an  equivalent.  These  boarding-houses  make  it  aExt^uon  of 
rule,  for  instance,  if  emigrants  arrive  at  7  o'clock  P.M.  and  leave  housekeepers, 
the  next  day  at  10  or  2  o'clock,  to  charge  two  days'  board  ard  lodg 
ing  for  what  in  fact  constitutes  only  one  day.  The  keepers 
of  emigrant  boarding-houses  are  invariably  foreigners,  the  natives 
of  each  nation  preying  upon  their  own  countrymen.  The  runners 
represent  to  the  emigrant  that  his  charges  are  sixpence  sterling  for 
each  meal,  and  the  same  for  lodging,  and  no  charge  for  cartage  of 
baggage  to  their  houses  or  for  storage  while  it  remains  there. 
When  the  emigrant  is  ready  to  leave,  he  calls  for  his  bill,  and  is 
surprised  to  find  that  he  is  required  to  pay  from  $1  to  $2  per 
day  for  his  board,  and  often  §2  to  S3  cartage  for  his  baggage. 
The  keepers  exercise  their  right  of*lien  on  the  goods  until  the 
price  is  paid." 

"  I  was  in  a  boarding-house  in  Cherry  Street,"  says  Hiram 
Huested.  "A  man  came  up  to  settle  his  bill,  which  the 
landlord  made  out  at  $18.  'Why,'  says  the  man,  'did  you 
not  agree  to  board  me  for  Gd.  a  meal  and  3d.  for  a  bed?' 
<  Yes,'  says  the  landlord,  'and  that  makes  just  75  cents  per 
day.  You  have  been  here  just  eight  days,  and  that  makes 
just  818.'  " 


66 


RUNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES. 


•Booking. 


ronSye!  i>a-  George  TV.  Daley  (the  notorious  One-eyed  Daley),  who 
had  been  engaged  iu  forwarding  passengers  on  the  canal, 
and  left  business,  as  he  alleged,  from  disgust  with  the  im 
position  practised  by  his  partners,  and  by  the  men  in  his  em 
ployment,  upon  emigrants,  said :  "  Mr.  Roach  (one  of  the  former 
partners  of  Daley)  spent  his  time  in  New  York,  and  managed  the 
business  there.  When  a  vessel  was  reported,  he  generally  sent 
down  three  or  four  men  to  engage  the  passengers.  If  the  vessel  was 
a  Dutch  one  (German),  he  would  send  down  Dutchmen  (Germans) ; 
if  an  English  vessel,  he  would  send  Englishmen.  He  got  the  pas 
sengers  at  the  best  possible  rates,  sometimes  at  one  price  and 
sometimes  at  another.  Men  in  our  employ  have  frequently 
brought  passengers  to  me,  and  stated  that  they  had  represented 
to  the  passengers  that  they  were  to  go  by  railroad  or  packet ;  in 
such  cases  I  have  invariably  told  my  men  that  I  should  not  thus 
impose  upon  them,  as  we  had  no  arrangement  with  the  railroad 
and  packets,  and  would  not  book  them  in  that  way,  and  that 
they  must  not  promise  them  in  that  way.  "What  I  mean  by 
i  booking'  is,  making  bargains  with  passengers  and  giving  them 
tickets.  Our  books  are  made  in  the  form  of  a  check-book ;  the 
ticket  is  cut  out,  like  a  bank-check,  and  a  memorandum  of  it  is 
left ;  the  men  who  board  the  vessels  carry  a  book  with  them  and 
furnish  the  tickets. 

"  Frequently  the  c  night-watch '  from  the  Custom  House,  when 
they  board  a  vessel,  extol  some  particular  transportation  line  or  emi 
grant  forwarding-house ;  and,  when  they  leave  in  the  morning,  man 
age  to  get  the  name  of  some  one  or  more  of  the  passengers,  which 
they  report  to  the  emigrant  forwarding-house.  I  do  not  know 
that  they  receive  anything  for  their  services,  but  I  have  no  doubt 
they  do ;  this  is  what  is  called  c  stooling.'  There  is  another  way  of 
c  stooling '  frequently  practised,  which  is  for  the  runner  to  go  on 
board  and  employ  some  one  or  more  of  the  emigrants  of  influence  to 
engage  the  passengers  to  go  by  his  line,  for  which  the  emigrant  is 
paid  a  bonus.  The  following  case  came  to  my  knowledge  two  years 
ago  this  summer :  A  runner  went  on  board  an  English  vessel,  at 
Quarantine,  singled  out  a  man  of  influence,  and  offered  him  a  gold 
watch  and  chain  if  he  would  induce  those  on  board  to  go  by  the 
line  by  which  he  was  employed.  The  man  agreed  to  it,  on  condi 


*  Stooling." 


BOAKDING-HOUSES.  67 

tion  that  lie  could  have  the  watch  in  advance.  The  runner  took 
it  from  his  own  pocket,  threw  the  chain  over  the  neck  of  the 
Englishman,  and  put  the  watch  in  his  pocket.  The  man  then 
went  to  work  and  got  all  the  passengers  booked  according  to 
agreement.  They  went  up  to  the  city  in  company.  The  luggage 
was  taken  to  the  boat.  The  runner  and  his  friend  went  into  an 
office,  where  they  found  a  man,  who  seized  the  Englishman  and 
exclaimed,  '  Then  you  are  the  man  that  robbed  the  man  of  his 
watch,  are  you  1 '  The  runner  made  his  escape  precipitately,  and 
the  Englishman  was  compelled  to  give  up  the  watch,  and  paid 
a  handsome  sum  in  addition." 

Tobias  Boudinot,  being  duly  sworn,  says :  "  I  am  Captain  of 
Police  of  the  Third  Ward.  Many  of  the  steamboats  that  land  Boudinot- 
emigrants  from  Quarantine  land  at  the  docks  in  the  Third  Ward. 
There  they  are  immediately  visited  by  the  runners  from  the  emi 
grant  boarding-houses,  backed  by  bullies  to  assist  in  soliciting 
passengers  to  go  to  the  different  houses.  As  the  emigrant 
attempts  to  take  his  luggage  from  on  board  the  boat,  the  runner 
will  endeavor  to  get  it  from  him,  and  by  force,  unless  there  is  a 
sufficient  police  to  protect  him,  representing  that  they  will  keep 
them  at  sixpence  sterling  for  each  meal,  and  sixpence  sterling  for 
lodging,  and  no  charge  made  for  cartage  or  storage  for  luggage. 
When  the  emigrant  comes  to  pay  his  bill,  he  is  never  able  to  get 
off  at  the  contract  price,  but  is  compelled  to  pay  from  three 
shillings  to  fifty  cents  for  each  meal  and  lodging,  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  for  cartage,  when,  if  it  was  paid  at  the  time,  it  could 
not,  under  the  law,  be  but  thirty-one  cents  and  fifty  cents  per  day 
for  storage  for  an  ordinary-sized  chest,  and  other  things  in  pro 
portion." 

The  greatest  frauds,  however,  were  committed  by  the  forward- 
ing-houses,  to  which  some  allusion  has  already  been  made  in  the   ] 
foregoing  affidavits.     At  that  time,  the  only  route  West  was  via 
Albany,  and  thence  by  the  canal,  or,  since  1846,  by  railroad  to 
Buffalo,  the   Erie  and  Pennsylvania   railroads  not  having  been          y 
completed  until  1852  or  1853.     The  trip  from  New  York  to 
Albany  was  made  by  steamer,  and  was  comparatively  the  quickest 
part  of  the  journey  West,  as  it  did  not  take  more  than  ten  hours 
to  reach  Albany.     The  emigrants  generally  bought  tickets  in 


68  RUNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES. 

New  York,  with  the  understanding  and  assurance  that  they  were 
to  be  forwarded  on  to  their  place  of  destination  with  their  luggage 
without  further  charge ;  but,  when  they  arrived  at  Albany,  the 
person  to  whom  they  were  consigned  denied  the  authority  of  the 
persons  of  whom  the  tickets  were  bought.  If  the  tickets  were 
accepted,  the  emigrants  were  required  to  pay  exorbitantly  for  the 
transportation  of  their  luggage,  and  were  often  cheated  in  its 
weight.  "  Among  the  numerous  frauds,"  says  the  Committee  in 
their  Report  to  the  Assembly,  "  practised  by  these  runners  and 
forwarding-houses,  there  is,  perhaps,  none  greater  than  that  which 
exists  in  the  sale  of  passage-tickets.  The  emigrant  is  shown  a 
neatly  printed  ticket,  with  a  picture  of  a  steamboat,  railroad-cars, 
and  canal-packet,  with  three  horses  attached  to  it,  and  is  given  to 
understand  that  such  a  ticket  will  take  him  to  a  given  place  be 
yond  Albany  in  a  specified  manner,  and  for  a  price  to  be  agreed 
upon ;  and  after  disposing  of  the  ticket  for  an  exorbitant  price, 
the  emigrant  is  furnished  with  a  steamboat  ticket  to  take  him  to 
Albany,  where  he  is  to  present  this  passage-ticket  to  some  person 
or  company  upon  which  it  is  drawn,  where  it  is  often  either  pro 
tested,  or  objections  taken  to  the  mode  of  conveyance ;  and  the 
passenger,  instead  of  going  upon  the  railroad  or  packet-boat  as 
agreed  upon,  is  thrust  into  the  steerage  or  hold  of  a  line  boat, 
where  he  is  often  known  to  complain — when  the  only  evidence 
he  can  furnish  of  the  fraud  committed  upon  him  is  to  exhibit  his 
ticket  with  a  picture  of  three  horses,  while  the  line  boats  are  only 
drawn  by  two. 

"  A  pretence  is  also  often  set  up  for  not  honoring  these 
tickets,  that  the  freight  is  not  paid,  or,  at  least,  that  enough 
has  not  been  paid  upon  the  luggage,  and  the  emigrant  is 
either  detained  at  Albany  or  compelled  to  pay  additional 
charges 

"  It  will  be  seen  from  the  testimony  taken  that  immense  sums 
of  money  are  drawn  from  these  emigrants  by  overcharging,  both 
for  their  fare  and  the  freight  of  their  luggage  ;  and,  not  satisfied 
with  this,  some  of  the  persons  engaged  in  this  forwarding  business 
are  in  the  habit  of  defrauding  them  in  the  weight  of  their  luggage, 
by  using  false  scales  and  giving  false  statements  of  the  amounts 
forwarded." 


Ne{£ 


RlJNNEKS  -  BOAEDING-HOUSES.  69 

"  I  have  found  in  most  cases  (especially  when  they  come 
large  bodies),"  says  David  Neligan,  an  old  citizen  of  Albany,  and   laft> 
the  official  agent  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  at  that   ereS 

tion. 

place,  "  that  the  emigrants  were  '  booked  '  in  New  York,  meaning 
that  they  had  agreed  for  their  passage,  and  were  consigned  to 
some  one  of  the  forwarding-offices  here.  In  such  cases,  they  are 
generally  furnished  with  a  <  passage-ticket  '  purporting  to  be  a 
receipt  in  full  for  the  conveyance  of  themselves  and  luggage  to 
their  destination  ;  but  on  their  arrival  here  they  find  in  many  in 
stances  they  must  pay  steamboat  freight  for  their  luggage,  cartage 
to  the  office  or  canal-boat,  and  canal  freight  for  their  luggage 
again,  which  has  all  to  be  weighed  ;  and  here  the  poor  strangers 
begin  to  discover  that  they  have  been  imposed  upon.  In  many 
cases,  too,  the  emigrant  discovers  here,  for  the  first  time,  that  there 
is  a  balance  due  on  his  passage-money  (which  balance  varies  from 
one  to  twenty  dollars),  and  is  so  endorsed  on  his  ticket,  and  which 
he  must  pay  on  pain  of  detention  and  forfeiture  of  all  he  has  pre 
viously  paid.  In  other  cases,  the  contract  is  to  pay  half  the 
money  in  advance,  and  the  other  half  at  the  end  of  the  journey  ; 
but  I  have  never  known  an  instance  of  this  kind  in  w^hich  the 
balance  of  the  money  was  not  exacted  in  Albany,  although  their 
destination  may  be  in  the  far  "West  or  Canada.  Remonstrance  in 
such  cases  is  utterly  in  vain,  and  the  poor  emigrant  is  compelled 
to  submit,  and  frequently  at  a  very  great  sacrifice  of  convenience, 
and  even  of  physical  requirements." 

"VVe  will  now  enter  more  closely  into  an  examination  of  the  Tftiue<u    chief 
three  most  flagrant  modes  of  ill-treatment  and  fraud,  namely,  1st, 
False  weighing  ;  2d,  Overcharging  the  emigrant  for  transporta 
tion  of  himself  and  luggage  ;  3d,  Brutal  treatment  on  the  part 
of  agents  and  runners. 

The  ordinary  prices  from  New  York  and  Albany  by  steamer  and  Fal8e  weighing, 
canal  were  very  low.  The  price  paid  by  the  forwarding-houses  for 
passage  on  deck  of  the  steamboats  from  New  York  to  Albany  and 
Troy  was  uniformly  fifty  cents  for  each  passenger,  including  fifty 
pounds  of  luggage,  and  all  extra  luggage  fifteen  cents  per  hundred 
pounds  ;  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  regularly  fifty  cents,  and  excep 
tionally  only  one  dollar  for  steerage  passage,  forty  pounds  of  lug 
gage  free,  and  extra  luggage  thirty-six  and  a  half  cents  per  hundred 


70  RUNNERS — BOABDING-HOUSES. 

pounds.  The  emigrant,  however,  was  never  charged  less  than 
five  dollars  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  and  one  dollar  for  every 
one  hundred  pounds  extra  luggage  ;  and  the  enormous  differences 
between  the  prices  paid  by  the  forwarding-houses  and  charged  to 
the  emigrants  were  divided  among  the  former  and  their  soliciting 
agents  or  runners. 

The  prices  of  conveying  passengers  from  Buffalo  to  the  cities 
and  villages  on  the  upper  and  lower  lakes  varied  between  $1  and 
$5.  Thus,  for  the  forepart  of  the  season  of  1847,  they  were  on 
the  upper  lakes,  for  the  first  two  months,  $3  each,  and  from  $1  25 
to  $1  50  on  the  lower  lakes ;  after  that  the  forwarding-houses 
paid  $2  on  the  upper  and  $1  on  the  lower  lakes,  and  towards  the 
close  of  the  season  the  prices  were  raised  to  $5  on  the  upper  and 
$2  on  the  lower  lakes.  The  lowest  prices  charged  to  the  emi 
grant  were  from  New  York  to  Cleveland,  $5  50  ;  Milwaukee  and 
Chicago,  $9  50  and  $10 ;  Cincinnati,  $12 ;  Louisville,  $13 ;  St. 
Louis,  $14;  and  Galena,  $16. 

«  From  the  opening  of  navigation  in  1847  till  31st  day  of 
- J^tyj"  sajs  Charles  Cook  (a  book-keeper  in  an  emigrant  for- 
warding-house),  "forwarding  companies  paid  the  transporta 
tion  lines  for  steerage  passengers  by  canal,  river,  and  lake,  from 
New  York  to  Chicago,  $3,  including  65  Ibs.  luggage ;  they 
charged  emigrants  from  $5  to  $8 ;  luggage  costs  from  about  75 
cents  per  100  Ibs.,  and  is  charged  from  $1  50  to  $2  per  100  Ibs. 
The  actual  cost  for  steerage  passengers,  in  emigrant  cars,  from 
Albany  to  Buffalo,  thence  to  Chicago,  is  $6  50,  for  which  the 
emigrant  pays  $12 ;  this  includes  100  Ibs.  of  luggage  on  the 
river  and  an  indefinite  amount  on  the  railroad;  the  usual 
rate  on  the  railroad  is  $1  25  per  100  Ibs.  A  deduction 
of  $3  is  made  to  all  passengers  who  stop  at  Detroit  or  any 
point  this  side,  on  the  lower  lakes  ;  this  costs  the  forwarding 
companies  about  $5  50  by  railroad ;  if  on  the  canal  (steerage), 
the  charge  is  $5,  and  it  costs  about  $2.  This  is  up  to  the  1st 
of  August ;  on  the  lakes  the  rates  have  advanced  since  the 
1st  of  August,  $3,  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago,  and  $1  on  the 
lower  lakes." 

Up  to  1850  or  1855,  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  emigrants 
went  West  by  railroad,  but  the  prices  asked  and  obtained  from 


RUNNERS — BOAJJDING-HOUSES.  71 

them  were  none  the  less  exorbitant,  as  will  more  fully  appear 
from  the  following  list : 

Price  from  New  York.  Cost  by  Steamboat.  Railroad.  By  Lake.  Total.  Profit.  Kates  charged 
To  Buffalo $6  00  $0  50  $4  00  $0  00  $4  50  $1  50  grantor  rail- 
To  Cleveland 9  00  0  50  4  00  1  00  4  50  3  65 

To  Detroit 925  050  400           100  550  375 

To  Chicago 1200  050  400  200  650  550 

To  Cincinnati 12  50  0  50  4  00^*^3  50  8  00  4  50 

To  Pittsburg 10  50  0  50  4  00  3  00  7  50  3  00 

To  St.  Louis 14  50  0  50  4  00  5  00  9  50  5  00 

To  Louisville 13  50  0  50  4  00  4  50  9  00  4  50 

In  addition  to  the  payment  of  the  above  prices  to  the  agents 
of  the  railroad  monopoly,  the  emigrants  had  to  pay  freight  on 
their  luggage  from  New  York  to  Albany,  and  cartage  from 
steamboat  to  railroad  depot,  and  then  cartage  at  Buffalo,  from 
railroad  to  steamboat,  and  their  freight  on  their  baggage  across 
the  lakes,  collected  by  one  of  these  same  contracting  agents, 
located  at  Buffalo,  although  the  prices  charged  for  tickets  include 
luggage  fees. 

All  the  above  charges  were,  so  to  speak,  legitimate,  and, 
although  yielding  a  very  handsome  profit  to  the  forwarding- 
houses,  they  were  not  so  exorbitant  as  to  take  more  than  a  few 
dollars  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  emigrants.  The  profits  realized, 
however,  by  exacting  these  fares  went  exclusively  into  the  pockets 
of  the  New  York  houses,  for  the  emigrants  on  landing  were 
cheated  into  the  belief  that  it  was  to  their  interest  to  buy  at  once 
their  tickets  to  their  respective  destinations  (by  which  operation 
the  runner  secured  to  himself  two  or  three  dollars  more).  But 
the  New  York  houses  were  not  so  cruel  as  to  injure  the  interests 
of  their  Albany  and  Buffalo  friends  and  correspondents.  The 
emigrant  was  their  common  victim,  whom  they  would  despoil  so 
long  as  he  had  anything  left.  The  New  York  forwarders  there 
fore,  after  having  made  their  share  out  of  him,  handed  the 
emigrant  over  to  their  friends  "West,  with  the  expectation  that  he 
still  had  something  out  of  which  he  could  be  defrauded. 

"When  the  passenger  paid  his  fare  in  New  York,  it  was  the  raise  weighing 

1  at  Albany  aud 

general   rule  to  say  nothing  to   him  about  the  extra  luggage.   Buffalo. 


72 


RUNNERS  —  BOAKDING~HOUSES. 


Overcharging  for  and  false  weighing  of  the  latter  formed  one  of 
the  chief  sources  of  plunder  of  the  Albany  and  Buffalo  houses, 
and,  if  enough  could  not  be  made  in  this  way,  the  repayment  of 
the  whole  or  part  of  the  fare  was  exacted.  The  sworn  testimony 
of  some  of  the  parties  interested  and  of  disinterested  witnesses 
will  more  fully  prove  this. 

Testimony  of  1.  As  to  False  Weighing.  —  "I  know,"  says  the  above-inen- 
tioned  Geo.  "W.  Daley,  "  that  great  frauds  are  practised  in  weigh 
ing  luggage  ;  a  Mr.  "Weaver,  in  this  city,  did  the  weighing  for 
Smethurst  &  Co.  ;  I  have  known  him  to  make  luggage  tally  from 
25  to  40  per  cent,  more  than  it  weighed  ;  his  scales  are  generally 
wrong  ;  he  aimed  to  increase  the  weight  about  33  per  cent.  ;  I 
have  weighed  on  his  scales  274  Ibs.,  when  my  actual  weight  was 
about  170  Ibs.  ;  while  I  was  with  Smethurst  as  partner,  I  have 
fixed  the  scales,  or  had  them  fixed,  four  or  five  times." 

Henry  Bishop.  Henry  Bishop  sworn,  and  says:  "I  reside  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  and  am  clerk  for  Malburn  &  Co.  ;  I  have  seen  at  the 
emigrant  forwarding-offices  two  separate  tallies  kept  of  the 
weight  of  the  luggage  ;  one  for  settling  with  the  emigrant,  and 
the  other  for  settling  with  the  owner  of  the  boat.  There 
was  a  difference  between  the  tallies  ;  it  would  vary  about  one- 
third  ;  the  tally  that  was  kept  for  the  boat  was  the  true  weight  ; 
that  for  the  passengers  was  made  to  overrun  the  true  weight  300 
or  400  Ibs.  in  800  or  900  Ibs.  I  have  seen  Gr.  W.  Daley  do  this 
at  Smethurst's  office,  at  No.  122  Pier,  Albany,  and  also  at  104 
Pier,  another  of  Smethurst's  offices  ;  this  was  a  year  ago.  I 
have  seen  this  done  three  or  four  times  ;  have  seen  no  one  do  it 
but  Daley;  was  once  in  the  employment  of  Smethurst;  have 
weighed  baggage  there  ;  have  never  kept  two  tallies." 

"  I  have  known  men  in  the  employment  of  Smethurst,"  says 
jonat]ian  Brooks,  Jr.,  agent  of  the  Holland  Emigration  Society 
in  Albany,  "  to  take  their  scale  on  board  the  boat  and  weigh  lug 
gage  there.  I  have  seen  them,  in  weighing  luggage,  put  their  foot 
upon  the  platform  to  increase  the  weight,  and  have  spoken  to 
them  on  the  subject.  I  have  lent  them  my  scale,  and  had  it 
returned  out  of  order,  invariably  weighing  more  than  it 
should." 


Afand 
tion  society. 


EUNNERS BOARDING-HOUSES.  73 

Benjamin  D.  Quigg,  being  duly  sworn,  says  "  that  he  is  deputy 
sergeant-at-arms  of  the  House  of  the  Assembly.  Some  few  days  bly' 
since  he  went,  by  direction  of  the  Committee,  to  investigate 
frauds  upon  emigrants,  to  the  office  of  H.  D.  Smethurst,  Pier 
122,  Albany,  who  is  engaged  in  forwarding  emigrants,  to  serve  a 
subpoena  on  said  Smethurst  and  others,  and  saw  a  man  weighing 
luggage.  After  he  left  the  office,  I  stepped  on  the  scales,  and 
weighed  myself,  and  weighed  163J  pounds  by  them.  I  then 
went  to  the  store  of  Corning,  Horner  &  Co.,  and  was  weighed 
upon  their  scales,  and  weighed  142|-  pounds.  I  weighed  a  young 
man  who  was  with  me  at  the  time  on  both  scales,  and  found  the 
same  relative  difference  to  exist." 

"  A  few  days  ago,"  deposes  Josiah  Clarke,  of  Albany,  in  No-  Joslal1  ciarke. 
vember,  1847,  "  I  was  weighed  on  H.  D.  Smethurst's  scales,  at  his 
office,  122  Pier,  Albany,  and  weighed  more  than  200  pounds.     I 
had  been  weighed  a  week  before,  and  weighed  169  pounds." 

"I  have  frequently  attended,"  testifies  David  Neligan,  the David  Neligan> 
above-named  agent  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  "  to  the 
weighing  of  luggage  at  the  office  of  Smethurst,  and  on  his  boats ; 
have  detected  and  prevented  frauds  in  the  weight ;  in  one  instance, 
I  saw  a  lot  of  luggage  weighed  and  marked  at  700  pouncls  at  the 
above  office;  I  thought  the  weight  most  extraordinary  for  so 
small  a  lot,  and  went  to  Mr.  Roach,  who,  I  believe,  was  a  part 
ner  of  Smethurst,  and  asked  him  to  come  and  weigh  a  lot  of  bag 
gage,  not  telling  him  that  I  knew  the  weight  at  which  it  had 
been  set  down ;  he  came  forward,  and  weighed  it  at  500  pounds. 
I  saw  on  one  occasion  an  emigrant  pay,  at  that  office,  $16  for  400 
pounds  to  Detroit,  and  on  another  §59  freight  on  1,600  pounds 
to  Milwaukee ;  have  on  many  occasions  known  emigrants  pay 
from  §2  50  to  $6  for  100  pounds  to  Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  and 
in  one  instance,  when  the  man  objected  to  the  price,  he  was  told 
that  most  of  it  went  to  the  Government." 

"  A  lot  of  eighty-six  Hollanders  lay  here  waiting,"  writes  an 
anonymous  Buffalo  philanthropist,  on  July  18, 1847,  to  the  Mayor 
of  Albany,  "that  had  paid  in  Troy  over  §1,150  for  fare,  §680  for 
passage,  and  §433  for  luggage.  We  weighed  the  luggage,  and 
the  overweight,  at  a  fair  price,  will  not  come  to  §75.  Shipped  by 
P.  O'Hern,  New  York,  Emery  Mathews,  Troy." 


74  RUNNERS BOARDING-HOUSES. 

overcharging,  ^  Relative  to  Overcharging,  Repayment,  and  Extra  Lug 
gage. — The  New  York  runners  always  required  pay  in  advance, 
giving  a  ticket  on  some  person  at  Albany,  generally  on  Roach  & 
Smethurst.  "When  the  emigrants  arrived  at  Albany,  this  ticket 
was  often  found  to  be  a  fraud,  no  one  appearing  there  to  pass 
them  forward. 

Josiah  Clarke,  who  had  been  most  of  the  time  for  twenty 
years  in  the  passenger  and  freight  business  at  Albany,  being 
sworn,  said :  "  I  know  that  the  emigrant  passenger  business  has 
been  carried  on  fraudulently  for  three  or  four  years  in  this  city ; 
frequently  persons  come  on  from  New  York  with  tickets  which 
they  suppose  are  to  take  them  through  to  Buffalo  by  railroad,  and 
find  that  they  are  to  be  provided  with  accommodation  in  the 
steerage  of  a  canal-boat  on  their  arrival  at  Albany.  They  fre 
quently  pay  passage  from  here  to  Buffalo,  and  the  man  furnish 
ing  tickets,  instead  of  entering  payment  in  full,  enters  on  the 
ticket  $3  or  some  other  sum  '  on  account '  of  passage,  and  the 
man  is  compelled  to  pay  over  again  as  much  as  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  carry  him  through  in  the  first  instance.  I  have  known 
a  great  number  of  instances  of  this  kind." 

George  Thomas,  on  October  13,  1847,  agreed  with  a  person 

Smetliurst. 

in  the  city  of  New  York  to  pay  $20  for  the  passage  of  himself 
and  family  to  Pittsburg,  and  to  pay  for  freight  not  over  $1  per 
100  pounds ;  and  he  received  a  ticket  and  was  directed  to  call 
upon  Henry  D.  Smethurst,  in  this  city.  On  arriving  in  this  city, 
he  went  to  Smethurst's  office,  who  received  the  ticket,  and  then 
charged  him  $29  for  extra  luggage.  Deponent  told  him  of  his 
contract  in  New  York,  and  asked  Smethurst  for  his  ticket  back ; 
he  refused  to  give  it,  telling  deponent  to  help  himself. 

William  P.  Pfaff,  one  of  the  German  runners  of  Smethurst  at 
Albany,  and  one  of  the  meanest  of  the  whole  gang,  said :  "  I  spend 
most  of  my  time  in  transferring  passengers  from  steamboats  to 
the  office  and  canal  boats;  Mr.  Smethurst  has  no  established 
price  to  charge  passengers ;  most  of  the  contracts  are  made  in 
New  York,  and  the  passengers  are  consigned  to  him  ;  luggage  is 
not  weighed  in  New  York ;  he  has  no  established  price  for  lug 
gage  ;  sometimes  the  passengers  contract  in  New  York ;  if  not, 
Smethurst  charges  what  he  pleases ;  passengers  ordinarily  think 


RUNNERS  —  BOAKDING-HOTJSES.  75 

that  the  price  paid  in  New  York  for  passage  included  all  their 
luggage  ;  the  runners  in  New  York  encourage  them  in  that  belief; 
Smethurst's  agents,  I  presume,  do  the  same  ;  Smethurst  employed 
runners  in  New  York  ;  I  think  in  almost  all  cases  passengers  are 
displeased  and  disappointed  when  they  are  called  upon  to  pay  for 
their  luggage  ;  they  say  that  they  have  already  paid  it,  and  insist 
upon  it  that  they  have  done  so  ;  Smethurst  exacts  pay  of  them, 
and  in  some  instances  detains  their  luggage  till  he  is  paid  ;  Ms 
charges  are  such  as  suit  him,  without  reference  to  the  conveni 
ence  or  will  of  the  passenger  ;  the  exaction  is  arbitrary  and  must 
be  paid,  if  the  passenger  has  the  means  ;  when  a  passenger  refuses 
to  go  on  to  his  place  of  destination,  Smethurst  never  refunds 
the  money  already  paid  ;  if  a  passenger  who  contracts  for  a  passage 
to  Chicago  pays  enough  to  go  to  Buffalo,  and  leaves  the  rest  unpaid, 
he  is  never  permitted  to  go  beyond  Albany  till  the  balance  is 
paid." 

The  most  important  evidence  is  that  of  Mr.  Neligan.    He  says  :  David 

*  o  J  citing  various 

"  My  attention  has  been  called  to  many  cases  of  fraud  practised   Ss  oaexcm- 
on  American  citizens,  equally  flagrant  with  those  upon  foreigners, 
some  of  which  have,  already  received  the  attention  of  your  Com 
mittee.     I  will  only  mention  a  few  more. 

"  Amasa  Prescott,  of  Belfast,  Me.,  paid  $40  for  two  passengers 
from  Boston  to  Milwaukee,  by  railroad  to  Buffalo,  and  cabin  pas 
sage  on  the  lakes.  These  tickets  were  refused  at  Albany,  but  an- 
offer  was  made  to  convey  him  by  canal  and  steerage  on  the  lake, 
which  would  make  a  difference  of  $16.  This  statement  was  made 
by  Prescott  to  Senator  Beach.  I  do  not  know  how  he  settled  it, 
as  I  did  not  see  him  afterwards. 

"  Mrs.  M.  Frier,  of  Syracuse,  paid  $6  50  from  New  York  to 
Syracuse  by  railroad,  consigned  to  Smethurst  in  this  city  ;  but 
Smethurst  refused  to  send  her  by  that  mode,  and  I  had  to  procure 
a  gratuitous  pass  from  E.  Corning,  Esq.,  by  railroad,  Smethurst 
refusing  to  refund. 

"  I  have  seen  many  of  the  latter  class  who,  upon  discovering 
the  fraud,  destroyed  their  tickets  and  proceeded  on  their  journey, 
rather  than  encounter  the  delay  or  trouble  of  seeking  redress. 

"I  will  mention  a  few  other  cases  of  emigrants.  same  citing 

"  James  Ileslop,  a  Scotchman,  paid  Smethurst  &  Co.  thirty   &£*£*£    de' 


76  KlJNNEKS — BoAKDING-HoTJSES. 

sovereigns,  or  $145  25,  for  three  persons  to  Port  "Washington, 
Ohio.  The  ordinary  expense  of  the  journey  at  that  time  (1st 
August)  was  $8  61.  "W.  Reese,  a  Welshman,  paid  for  two 
persons  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  luggage  from  New 
York  to  Milwaukee,  $27  36 ;  but,  on  arriving  at  Buffalo,  the 
ticket  was  repudiated  by  the  agent,  and  Reese,  I  am  informed, 
and  several  others  in  a  like  predicament,  had  to  pay  their  fare 
over  the  lake.  Reese  returned  to  Albany  to  seek  redress,  but  in 
vain. 

"Mr.  Carron  and  wife  paid  $21  to  Milwaukee  from  New 
York.  The  steamboat  tickets  on  the  river  wrere  refused,  and 
he  had  to  pay  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  passage,  and  seventy- 
five  cents  for  luggage  (although  he  had  less  than  a  hundred 
pounds).  He  had  to  go  twice  to  "New  York  to  prosecute 
Selover  (the  agent),  who  was  indicted,  and  afterwards  paid  his 
fare  by  railroad,  losing  the  whole  sum  which  he  paid  originally 
for  his  passage,  besides  expenses  of  two  trips  to  New  York, 
detention,  etc. 

"  Samuel  Collis  paid  six  sovereigns  for  five  passengers  from 
New  York  to  Toronto.  Smethurst  demanded  thirteen  dollars 
more.  On  his  stating  his  inability  to  pay  it,  he  was  told  he 
could  go  no  further.  His  Honor  the  Mayor,  and  Thurlow  "Weed, 
Esq.,  gave  him  twelve  dollars,  and  I  procured  a  passage  to  his 
destination  for  ten  dollars.  His  affidavit,  taken  before  his  Honor 
the  Recorder,  is  in  my  possession. 

"  James  Clark  paid  nine  dollars  for  three  full  passengers  from 
New  York  to  Cayuga  Bridge  by  railroad  from  Albany.  Sme 
thurst  refused  to  send  him  by  railroad,  and  purchased  his  ticket 
back  for  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents. 

"  James  Lind,  a  Scotchman,  with  five  children,  from  New 
York  to  Hamilton,  C.  W.,  paid  $26  50.  At  Rochester,  the 
captain  of  the  boat  told  him,  he  could  not  send  him  to 
Canada,  as  he  had  received  but  ten  dollars,  and  he  must  have 
three  more  for  his  trouble.  Lind  had  no  ticket  or  evidence 
whatever,  as  Smethurst  said  it  was  not  necessary,  and  the  captain 
was  an  honorable  man.  I  was  present  at  the  making  of  this 
agreement  myself,  and  supposed  all  was  right,  until  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Cook,  editor  of  the  Rochester  Democrat,  inform- 


RUNNERS  —  BOARDING-HOUSES.  77 

ing  me  that  Lind  and  his  family  were  in  the  Eochester  Almslionse, 
and  requested  me  to  get  the  money  back  from  Smethurst.  This 
Smethurst  refused  to  do,  but  he  sent  an  order  to  his  agent  at 
Rochester  to  forward  Lind  immediately.  I  know  nothing  further 
of  this  case. 

"  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  increase  this  list,  although  I  could 
do  so  to  a  much  greater  extent." 

One  of  the  most  impudent  frauds  which  are  recorded  in  the  Fr(f^lna°n 
Report  of  the  Committee  is  that  one  perpetrated  by  two  German  grante- 
runners,  by  the  name  of  Pfaff  and  Schmidt,  on  two  of  their 
countrymen,  a  certain  Christian  Duensing  and  Wm.  Heuer,  both 
passengers  per  ship  Minna  from  Bremen,  and  natives  of  Hano 
ver.  Each  of  them  had  a  family,  consisting  of  himself,  wife,  and 
four  children,  making  in  all  four  and  one-half  full  passengers, 
and  each  paid  in  ISTew  York  the  sum  of  forty  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
for  the  transportation  of  himself  and  family  and  luggage  to  Chi 
cago.  On  arriving  at  Albany,  Pfaff  snatched  the  tickets  and  re 
ceipts  from  them,  saying,  "  These  are  papers  which  you  should  have 
delivered  before,  for  they  belong  to  me  ;"  and  Schmidt  made  Duen 
sing  as  well  as  Heuer  pay  ninety  dollars  in  addition  to  their  fare,  and 
forty-seven  dollars  for  extra  luggage.  On  this  occasion,  Schmidt 
said  :  u  You  must  not  imagine  we  can  carry  you  so  cheap  ;  great 
deal  of  this  money  is  to  go  to  the  government  of  the  canal,  which 
has  laid  out  upwards  of  eighteen  millions  of  dollars  ;  "  he  said,  if 
he  took  a  cent  more  than  was  due,  "  may  his  wife  and  children 
become  blind  ;  you  must  take  me  for  an  honest  man,  for  I  am 
your  countryman  —  I  also  am  German." 


3.  Relative  to  the  Treatment  of  the  Emigrants  on 
Way.  —  It  was  extremely  cruel  and  brutal.  While  they  had  room  pas8engere 
enough  on  the  large  Hudson  River  steamers,  they  were  crowded 
like  beasts  in  the  canal-boats,  and  were  frequently  compelled  to 
pay  their  passage  over  again,  or  to  be  thrown  overboard  by  the 
captain.  Says  the  notorious  Smethurst,  in  his  examination  on 
November  15,  184Y  : 

"  The  year  before  last,  Captain  Jacobs  took  a  lot  of  Germans  Testimony     of 
from  Roach  &  Co.,  of  this  city,  bound  to  Buffalo,  received  his   Smethuret- 


78  RUNNEKS — BoAKDING-HoiJSES. 

Ecrueitynof aci£  Pa7>  an(^  extorted  payment  again  from  them  by  threatening  to 

nal-boat    cap-  ^  ^Qm  ^}WYQ  at  Rome. 

"  During  the  present  season,  Sterling  sent  a  lot  of  passengers 
by  canal-boat  J.  R.  Jacobs  —  Jacobs,  Captain  —  to  Buffalo  or 
Rochester,  and  paid  Captain  Jacobs  their  passage ;  but  on  the 
way  out  the  latter  compelled  them  to  pay  it  over  again." 

josiah  Clarke.  «  Passengers  are  frequently  crowded,"  says  Josiah  Clarke,  "  into 
the  steerage  of  a  boat  half-full  of  merchandise  and  luggage,  so  that 
they  have  no  accommodation,  and  are  sometimes  compelled  to 
pay  their  passage  over  again  by  the  captain.  I  have  often  thought 
something  should  be  done  to  protect  passengers  against  the  out 
rageous  frauds  of  crowding  them  into  the  hold  of  an  old  canal- 
boat  at  a  large  price,  when  there  are  a  great  many  good  and  con 
venient  boats  ready  and  willing  to  take  them  forward  at  half  the 
money." 

Rev.  j.  N.  wye-  Reverend  Dr.  J.  "N.  Wyckoff  writes:  "I  have  seen  a  en  nal- 
boat,  first  so  filled  with  luggage  as  to  reach  within  four  feet  of  the 
deck,  and  then  more  people  required  to  be  housed  upon  the  lug 
gage  than  could  be  laid  down  in  two  parallel  rows  from  the  stem 
to  the  stern  of  the  boat." 

Accommoda-     Tne  lake  steamers  did  not  offer  any  better  accommodations. 

tions  on  Lake  * 

"We  quote,  as  an  instance,  the  propeller  Phcenix,  which,  on 
November,  184:7,  was  destroyed  by  fire  while  it  had  two  hundred 
and  seventy  emigrants  on  board,  who  almost  all  perished  in  the 
flames.  "  I  went  on  board  the  Phoenix  (before  she  left  Buffalo 
on  her  last  trip),"  testifies  Elic  Yan  Yalkenburgh,  "  and  found 
her  almost  entirely  filled  with  merchandise ;  so  much  so  that 
passengers  could  have  no  accommodations  below  deck.  There 
was  a  stateroom  overhead,  to  which  the  emigrants  had  not  access ; 
and  their  only  accommodations  were  such  as  could  be  found  on 
deck,  with  a  roof  or  deck  overhead,  supported  by  posts,  with 
no  side  enclosings.  There  were  plenty  of  steamers  at  Buffalo  at 
the  time,  and  of  the  first  class,  on  board  of  which  they  could  have 
been  shipped  at  two  dollars  each.  The  propeller  remained  in 
port  some  ten  days  after  the  emigrants  were  put  on  board." 
Testimony  of  "1 1°^  the  emigrant  business,"  deposes  James  Roach,  one  of 
the  lowest  runners,  "  because  I  was  sick  of  it ;  the  way  business 


steamers. 


James  Koach, 
a  runner. 


RUNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES.  79 

was  done  dissatisfied  me ;  my  partners  were  not  such  men  as  I 
like'  to  do  business  with,  particularly  Daley;  his  treatment  of 
passengers  was  uncivil  arid  brutal ;  he  has  often  been  known  to 
personally  abuse  and  assault  them,  and  otherwise  impose  upon 
them.  Another  reason  of  my  leaving  the  business  was,  there  was 
too  much  money  collected  from  the  emigrants.  We  were  em 
ploying  too  many  men  at  high  wages  to  make  the  business  profit 
able,  unless  extortion  was  resorted  to." 

As  stated  above,  it  was  one  of  the  regular  tricks  of  the,  rim- stools. 
ners  to  promise  to  one  of  a  large  party  of  emigrants,  who  had 
or  was  supposed  to  have  influence  with  them,  free  passage  and 
other  considerations,  if  he  procured  their  patronage  for  a  certain 
line.  The  individual  who  thus  made  himself  a  tool  of  the  run 
ners  against  the  interest  of  his  friends,  was  called  a  stool.  The 
following  testimony  of  George  W.  Daley  will  explain  this  more 
fully : 

"  The  following,"  says  he,  "  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  received  by  Mr  G*°ei  imvDealto 
Smethurst  from  Mr.  Roach  while  I  was  a  partner  with  them  iri 
the  emigrant  business,  in  Albany.  There  have  been  a  number  of 
similar  letters  written  by  different  members  of  the  firm ;  they  are 
of  frequent  occurrence.  Mr.  Smethurst  opened  the  letter  and 
handed  it  to  me,  and  I  have  kept  it. 

"  <  NEW  YOEK,  May  20,  1847. 
"  f  MR.  SMETHURST  : 

'  SIR  :  There  is  three  hundred  emigrants  on  the  Rochester,  to 
night.  There  is  three  families  on  her  that  are  booked  by  Brische ; 
they  are  friends  of  Mr.  Swarts,  and  their  friends  in  Buffalo  are 
people  of  standing,  and  you  must  put  them  on  a  boat  where  they 
will  be  comfortable,  for  Brische  has  been  to  see  me  about  them, 
and  also  Mr.  Swarts.  You  must  be  easy  with  them  about  their 
luggage,  and  weigh  it  straight.  All  that  have  my  tickets,  put 
them  through ;  the  head  man  is  a  "stool;"  make  him  jump. 
Send  down  Yan  Toble's  tickets.  I  shall  not  send  you  any  money 
till  I  come  up.  I  think  that  I  shall  make  some  arrangements 
with  ISToyes.  so  that  he  will  not  be  opposition  here.  Run  the  O. 
P.  line  strong  this  week.  Yours,  JAMES  ROACH.' 


SO  RUNNERS — BOAKDING-HOUSES. 

"  '  The  0.  P.  line '  meant, '  Rob  the  passengers  all  yon  can,  and 
divide  the  money  with  me.'  The  proceeds  of  the  robbery  were 
not  divided  among  the  members  of  the  firm  generally,  but  sim 
ply  among  those  who  personally  participate  in  it. 

"  The  i  stool '  above  referred  to  was  an  individual  who  had 
influence  with  the  passengers,  and  had  procured  their  patronage 
for  Smethurst's  line,  in  consideration  of  a  promise  of  his  own  pas 
sage  and  $100.  The  passage  he  had  for  himself  and  three  mem 
bers  of  his  family,  but  the  $100  he  did  not  get.  '  Stooling  '  of 
a  similar  character  is  an  everyday  occurrence,  but  the  '  stools ' 
seldom  get  off  as  well  as  this  one.  They  are  generally  charged 
more  than  other  passengers.  They  submit  to  it  rather  than  be 
exposed  to  their  companions  as  traitors  to  their  interests. 
ed. 8  "  The  (  stools '  are  not  paid  wThat  they  are  promised  one  time 

in  twenty.  "When  they  demand  ^  their  pay,  they  are  threatened 
with  exposure  to  their  companions,  whose  interests  and  rights 
they  have  so  grossly  violated,  which  is  generally  sufficient  to 
silence  them.  The  case  of  the  watch  is  in  point.  The  English 
'  stool '  in  that  case  thought  he  was  arrested  by  an  officer  of  jus 
tice,  and  not  only  gave  up  the  watch,  but  paid  a  handsome  sum 
besides.  The  officer  was  in  fact  another  runner,  in  the  interest 
of  the  one  who  gave  him  the  watch." 
Pii°e?48sharecufy  All  these  nefarious  operations  were  openly  committed  by  the 

shipping-hous-  -I-I..T  -i  -i         ••!  -i        i"  i 

SSfcrSffi?a&  runners,  but  the  shipping-houses,  steamboats,  and  railroads  shared 
the  profits  with  them  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree.  Everybody 
was  aware  for  what  purpose  these  runners  were  kept ;  every  news 
paper  reported  almost  daily  their  villainous  transactions,  but 
neither  the  public  authorities  nor  the  people  dared  to  interfere 
with  them.  Now  and  then  a  complaint  was  made  by  one  of  the 
victims,  but  for  a  person  unacquainted  with  the  law  and  the  lan 
guage  of  the  country  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  redress.  In  cases 
where  it  was  probable  that  an  exposure  would  be  made,  the  mat 
ter  was  hushed  up,  the  emigrant  received  his  money  back,  and 
was  by  the  quickest  route  sent  "West.  Thus  these  runners  for 

ners.  "  years  infested  the  lower  parts  of  the  city,  and  by  their  means, 

recklessness,  prodigality,  and  political  influence,  controlled  the 
elections,  and  had  a  powerful  voice  in  the  State  capital.  Had  it 
not  been  for  their  objections,  the  law  creating  the  Commissioners 


RUNNERS — BOARDING-HOUSES.  81 

of  Emigration  would  have  passed  two  or  three  years  sooner. 
Even  the  Commissioners  were  unable  to  do  away  with  these  leeches 
so  long  as  they  had  no  landing-place  from  which  the  runners 
could  be  excluded.  "When,  in  1855,  they  finally  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  lease  of  Castle  Garden,  they  at  once  put  a  stop  to  the 
operations  of  these  creatures.  It  is  said  that  on  one  day  several 
hundreds  of  them  sailed  for  California,  where  a  large  portion  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  vigilance  committee  just  then  organized  at 
San  Francisco,  while  others  tried  to  carry  on  the  old  business  of 
defrauding  and  swindling,  and  some  perished  in  the  filibuster 
expeditions  in  Mexico  and  Central  America.  In  the  days  of 
which  we  have  been  speaking,  the  runner  business  had  culminated. 
These  men  were  masters  of  the  situation,  and  it  was  only  by 
gradual  efforts  that  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  were  enabled 
to  take  from  them  the  sources  of  plunder.  Even  in  their  exam-  Their  boidness. 
ination  before  the  Committee  of  the  Assembly,  they  found  it  un 
necessary  to  conceal  any  of  their  frauds.  They  even  openly  and 
boldly  avowed  and  testified  to  their  own  depravity. 

"  It  is  a  fact,"  savs  Henry  Vail,  a  New  York  runner,  "  that  I  Testimony     of 

"  J   .  Vail  and  other 

and  others  engaged  in  the  business  get  all  we  can  from  passen- 
gers,  except  that  I  never  shave  a  lady  that  is  travelling  alone  ; 
it  is  bad  enough  to  shave  a  man ;  I  have  all  I  get  over  a  certain 
amount  which  is  paid  to  the  transportation  companies." 

"  I  have  been  in  Smethurst's  office,"  continues  Charles  Cook, 
another  New  York  employee  in  the  emigrant  passage  business, 
"  when  Irish,  Dutch  (German),  and  English  emigrants  were  there, 
and  have  heard  Roach  tell  his  men  to  promise  them  all  they 
wanted,  that  is,  they  should  have  railroad  passage  and  all  of  their 
luggage  free  ;  the  same  persons  I  saw  afterwards  with  canal-boat 
tickets.  Roach  said  he  kept  the  party  called  the  Sixteen  at  a  great 
loss  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  Dutch  emigrants;  the 
Irish  were  worth  nothing  ;  the  English  alone  would  not  pay,  but 
putting  the  Sixteen  men,  or  fighting  men,  with  them  to  help 
Brische,  from  whom  he  was  obtaining  Dutch  passengers,  he  could 
make  a  good  stake  ;  that  there  was  no  use  of  talking  of  being 
honest  while  in  the  passage  business;  all  lie  wanted  was  to  get 
hold  of  the  cattle;  he  did  not  care  how  or  what  they  were 
promised ;  they  would  be  compelled  to  point  up  in  Albany  while 


82  RUNNERS — BOAKDIXG-HOUSES. 

Smetliurst  and  a  Dutchman  were  there.  I  have  been  in  Albanj 
and  seen  the  luggage  of  emigrants  weighed,  and  have  seen  the 
men  that  took  the  tally  add  to  the  weight  called  out  by  the 
weigher  so  as  to  average  about  fifty  pounds  to  the  passenger  over 
the  true  weight ;  I  have  seen  it  done  by  men  in  the  employ  of 
Smetliurst  &  Co.,  and  the  charge  collected  by  them  ;  I  have  also 
seen  the  same  thing  done  in  Malburn  &  Co.'s  office  in  the 
absence  of  Malburn ;  I  have  seen  Smetliurst  collect  lake  charges 
on  luggage,  and  receipt  only  upon  the  canal  ticket,  compelling  the 
emigrant  to  pay  lake  charges  again  at  Buffalo  ;  I  have  seen  Daley, 
Smetliurst,  and  Weaver,  on  two  or  three  occasions,  collect  from 
passengers  their  passage,  and  freight  on  their  luggage,  and  endorse 
on  their  tickets  due  upon  this  a  balance  in  Buffalo. 

The  sixteen.  "  The  men  called  the  Sixteen  party  have  their  headquarters 

at  16  Front  Street,  headed  by  Huested,  Hart,  and  others.  I 
have  heard  several  of  the  party  say,  after  they  had  been  booking 
emigrant  passengers,  that  they  had  made  a  big  thing  of  it,  and  at 
the  same  time  they  had  skinned  them  of  their  money,  and 
that  they  had  skinned  English  and  Scotch  out  of  sovereigns. 
The  English  runners  generally  get  the  luggage  of  passengers  in 
their  office,  then,  if  the  passenger  does  not  take  passage  with 
them ;  they  make  a  heavy  charge  for  storage. 

"  The  notorious  James  Roach  says  that  he  considers  those 
employed  by  Government  more  valuable  as  runners  in  consequence 
of  their  official  station  than  others  of  equal  capacity,  and  es 
pecially  that  a  man  connected  with  the  Custom  House  as 
night-watch  has  an  advantage  over  other  men  in  booking  pas 


sengers." 


Prunuereaid  to  ^n  Albany,  the  prices  paid  by  the  emigrant  forwarding  compa 
nies  to  runners  varied  from  $40  to  8100  per  month.  "  I  have 
been  paid  by  Smetliurst  &  Co.  $150  per  week,"  says  George 
"W.  Daley,  "from  the  3d  or  5th  of  August  to  the  20th  of  October 
last,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  me  from  interfering  with  their 
business  by  establishing  an  opposition  office.  The  New  York 
runners  averaged  about  $70  per  month,  and  in  Albany  about  §55 
per  month.  There  are  about  twenty  runners  in  this  city,  and  in 
New  York  Smethurst  &  Co.,  Malburn  &  Co.,  and  E.  Mathews 
employ  and  pay  about  sixty  runners,  and  indirectly  about  one  him- 


RUNNERS — BOAKDING-HOUSES.  83 

dred    this  includes  runners,  boarding-house  keepers,  and  boarding- 


house  runners  " 


"I  have  runners  employed  in  New  York,"  testifies  Henry  D. 


S  m  e  t  h  u  r  s  t's 

statement     of 
salaries  to  bis 


Smethurst,  on  November  15, 1847,  "and  the  following  are  their    runners 
names  and  salaries : 

George  Cornell, $30  00  per  week. 

Charles  Gallagher,         .         •         .         .         .        25  00  «       « 
Eichard  Cornell,       .         .         .         .  .    25  00  «       « 

William  F.  Hart,  ....  25  00  «       « 

Aaron  Piersons, 20  00  «       " 

John  O'Donnell, 15  00  «       " 

Brady, 15  00  «       « 

Jesse  Olmstead, 25  00  «       " 

Hiram  Ketchum, 18  00  «       « 

George  Burns,         .         .         .         '.         .         .      18  00  «       « 
Henry  Shanfroid,        .         .         .         .          .          20  00  «       " 

-  Sullivan, 12  50  «       « 

George  McDonald, $600  for  the  season 

-Hamilton, 600  "  « 

Hiram  Huested, 20  00  per  week. 

John  Leonard, 18  00  "       " 

Chris.  Penny,  10  00  «       " 

William  Ford, 10  00  «       " 

Charles  Andrews, 20  00  «       « 

"  The  following  persons  reside  and  transact  business  for  me  at 
Albany : 

James  Roach,         ....  $2,000  00  for  three  months. 

W.  F.  Sterling,          ...  750  00  "  "  " 

George  W.  Daley,           .         .         .  1,500  00  «  "  " 

Adolphus  Shoemaker,           .         .  .     60  00  "  "  " 

Felix  McCann,         .         .         .         .  100  00  «  «  " 

Thomas  Sales,           .         .         .  .        75  00  "  "  " 

Charles  Bartell,             .         .         .  50  00  "  "  " 

Henry  Snyder,           .         .         .  50  00  "  "  " 

Sidney  Goodrich,           .        .        .  .    50  00  "  "  " 


84  RUNNERS — BoAEDma- 

Samuel  Bryington,    .         .         .  .        40  00  for  three  months. 

Peter  Finnigan,     .         .         .         .  30  00  "        "           " 

Henry  Nichols,          .         .         .  45  00  "        " 

"William  Kerney,.           .         .         .  40  00  "        "           " 

Sylvester  Trowbridge,       .         .  .      600  00  for  the  season. 

J.  L.  Weaver,         ....  75  00  per  month. 

William  P.  Pfaff,         .         .         .  .     50  00  "         « 

William  Smith,        .         .         .  .         50  00  "         « 

"All  these  men  have  been  in  my  employment  during  the  pres 
ent  season.  They  have  worked  by  the  season,  month,  or  week, 
most  of  the  time;  part  of  this  time  I  paid  them  a  commission." 

"I  have,"  continues  James  Roach,  "  looked  over  the  list  of  per 
sons  mentioned  by  Mr.  Smethurst  as  being  employed  by  him,  and 
it  is  correct  as  far  it  goes ;  the  following  names  should  be  added  : 

O.  B.  Teal,  New  York,        .        .        .       $800  00  for  the  season. 

Samuel  Bennett, 75  00  per  month. 

Philip  Caswell, 600  00    «   season. 

Hiram  Johnson, 75  00    "   month. 

Robert  Miller, 600  00  «     season. 

Stephen  Gordon,         .         .     •  .        .  75  00    "    month. 

George  Dunning,  .        .        .        .  75  00    "        " 

Charles  Cook, 300  00    « 

And  others  to  whom  we  paid  small  sums  at  various  times  during 
the  season,  among  whom  was  Ralph  Schoyer  at  §37  50  per  week, 
etc." 

The  list  of  these  frauds,  continued,  as  before  stated,  until  the 
year  1855,  could  be  multiplied  adinjmitum,  but  the  in  stances  which 
we  have  enumerated  are  sufficient  to  show  the  utter  helplessness 
of  the  emigrants  against  the  imposition  and  deception  which  were 
practised  upon  them.  It  is  a  reproach  to  humanity  that  these 
infamies  continued  so  long. 


° 


CHAPTEE    Y. 

THE    BOARD    OF    COMMISSIONERS    OF    EMIGRATION   OF    THE    STATE    OF 

NEW  YORK. 

THE  extortions  and  frauds  which,  in  all  the  forms  that  rapacity 
could  invent  or  suggest,  had  been  practised  for  many  years,  finally,  Im^rTn  t°s 
in  1845  and  1846,  assumed  such  fearful  proportions,  and  became  rent. 
the  object  of  such  general  abhorrence,  that  legislation  for  the 
protection  of  emigrants  seemed  the  only  possible  remedy.  The 
community  finally  began  to  understand  that  it  had  to  suffer  in 
the  same  if  not  in  a  greater  proportion  than  the  emigrants  them 
selves,  if  the  latter  were  not  secured  from  the  cupidity  of  the 
runners  and  mercenary  attempts  of  the  agents.  Thus  humanity 
and  sound  policy  equally  indicated  the  necessity  for  a  thorough 
change  of  the  old  system,  and  a  strong  desire  manifested  itself 
among  all  political  parties  to  reform  the  existing  laws. 

The  problem  to  be  solved  was  to  protect  the  new-comer,  to    < 
prevent  him  from  being  robbed,  to  facilitate  his  passage  through  / 
the  city  to  the  interior,  to  aid  him  with  good  advice,  and,  in  j 
cases  of  most  urgent  necessity,  to  furnish  him  with  a  small  amount 
of  money  ;  in  short,  not  to  treat  him  as  a  pauper,  with  the  ulti 
mate  view  of  making  him  an  inmate  of  the  Almshouse,  but  as  an 
independent  citizen,  whose  future  career  would  become  inter 
woven  with  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 

There  were  two  adverse  interests  at  work  desirous  of  control-  ^ttTeekSg" 
ling  and  regulating  all  measures  relating  to  the  emigrant.     The   g?afion.oferm~ 
city  authorities,  and  especially  the  Almshouse  Commissioners, 
endeavored  to  have  concentrated  in  their  own  hands  the  right  to 
provide  remedies  and  suggest  reforms.     Their  sphere  of  action 
did  not  extend  beyond  the  city  limits  ;  all  they  cared  for  was  an 
increase  of  their  power  by  resuscitating  and  amending  the  existing 
laws.     On  the  other  hand,  there  were  a  number  of  leading  and 
public-spirited  citizens,  journalists,  merchants,  influential  members 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  philanthropists,  who,  being 


86  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a  radical  change  and  a  more 
liberal  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  emigrant,  were  opposed  to 
the  action  of  the  city  officials.  Among  the  latter,  Comptroller 
Ewen,  Assistant  Alderman  Purser,  and  the  Almshouse  Commis 
sioners  were  the  most  active,  while,  among  the  citizens  at  large, 
Messrs.  Leopold  Bierwirth,  Robert  B.  Mintnrn,  Thurlow  Weed, 
Andrew  Carrigan,  and  Archbishop  Hughes  labored  with  untiring 
zeal  and  energy. 

CBoartdofncom-  ^he  efforts  of  both  parties  finally  led  to  the  Act  of  May  5, 
Emig?atTosnb°/1847,  creating  the  Board  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of 
1847,  and  cLs-'  the  State  of  New  York.  This  result,  however,  was  iust  the  re- 

es  thereof. 

verse  of  what  had  been  intended  at  the  beginning  by  the  city 
authorities.  In  order  to  enable  the  reader  to  properly  understand 
the  operations  of  the  conflicting  interests,  it  is  necessary  to  give  a 
short  statement  of  the  means  by  which  the  Legislature  was  in 
duced  to  pass  the  above  act. 

The  Common  Council,  at  the  conclusion  of  their  investigation 
of  the  frauds  committed  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Mayor,  became  fully 
convinced  of  the  pecuniary  importance  of  the  subject  of  emigra 
tion.  Since  1842,  not  a  year  passed  without  some  effort  on  their 
part  to  correct  the  most  flagrant  of  the  abuses  practised  on  the 
emigrants,  and  to  extend  to  them  more  effectual  protection ;  but, 
however  well-meaning;  some  members  of  the  Common  Council 

O 

were,  the  influence  of  those  who  lived  by  fleecing  the  poor  aliens 
was  sufficient  to,  and  did,  control  the  majority,  and  thus  repressed 
every  attempt  to  effect  the  much-needed  reform. 

From  1845  to  1847,  all  the  efforts  of  the  city  officials  were  ex 
clusively  directed  towards  having  the  Mayor  vested  with  the 
power  of  bonding  and  commuting  alien  passengers. 

Thus,  in  his  Eeport  for  1845,  the  Comptroller,  General  John 
Aide?S  Ewen,  recommended  application  to  the  Legislature  for  an  amend 
ment  of  the  law,  so  as  to  authorize  the  Mayor  to  require  the  pay 
ment  of  one  dollar  for  each  of  the  alien  steerage  passengers  in  lieu 
of  bonding  them,  in  all  cases  where  he  should  deem  it  for  the 
public  interest  to  do  so.  He  prepared  the  draft  of  a  law  to  effect 
this  object,  and  submitted  it  to  the  Common  Council,  which  advo 
cated  its  adoption  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1846. 

On  September  29,  1846,  Mr.  G.  H.  Purser,  then  an  Alderman, 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  87 

who  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  subject,  reported,  as  Chairman 
of  a  select  Committee  of  the  Common  Council,  among  other 
things,  as  follows : 

"  To  avoid  the  importation  of  persons  utterly  unable  to  main 
tain  themselves,  from  infirmity  of  mind  or  body,  and  who  must 
necessarily  become  a  permanent  charge,  your  Committee  believe 
that  discretionary  power  should  be  given  to  the  Mayor  to  exact 
bonds  in  such  cases,  but  distinctly  divesting  the  bondsmen  of  any 
authority  to  maintain  them  at  any  private  irresponsible  establish 
ment.  Nearly  two  millions  of  dollars  being  now  annually  ex 
pended  in  the  transportation  of  passengers  to  this  port  alone,  it 
appears  unreasonable  that  the  tax-payer  should  be  burdened  in 
proportion  to  the  benefits  conferred  on  a  particular  class  of  the 
community.  Voluntarily  the  passenger  agents  will  never  permit 
the  commutation-money  which  they  receive  to  pass  into  the  city 
treasury. 

"  The  unceasing  hostility  of  these  men  towards  any  modifica 
tion  of  the  law  was  indicated  in  their  unscrupulous  exertions  last 
winter  (1846),  at  Albany,  to  postpone  the  action  of  the  Legisla 
ture  on  the  subject.  The  draft  of  a  law  submitted  by  the  Comp 
troller,  and  approved  unanimously  by  the  Common  Council,  was 
permitted  to  fail  without  even  defence  or  examination.  The 
passenger-brokers  even  succeeded  in  getting  through  the  Legisla-  l£Stlt p°ar*sbfc" 

i  i       •       i      ^         ,  i      •  -ir?,  -i  •  ger-brokera 

ture  a  law  exclusively  ior  their  own  benefit,  and  under  circum 
stances  which  we  hope  may  be  eventually  exposed.  An  amount 
of  fifty  cents  per  head  is  levied  upon  every  steerage,  and  two  dollars 
upon  every  cabin  passenger,  and  designated  hospital-money  ;  and 
for  many  years,  instead  of  being  applied  to  the  support  of  the 
emigrant  in  sickness  or  destitution,  has  been  appropriated  to  the 
building  of  churches  and  the  maintenance  of  sailor  boarding- 
houses.  The  law,  lobbied  through  the  Legislature,  provides  that 
the  Marine  Hospital  at  Staten  Island  shall  receive  the  alien  pas 
sengers,  when  sick,  for  the  period  of  one  year  after  arrival,  though 
previously  this  burden  devolved  upon  the  bondsmen,  who  thus 
increase  their  profits  to  the  extent  of  five  thousand  dollars  annu 
ally.  During  the  next  session  of  our  Legislature,  we  trust  this 
fund  may  command  the  attention  of  our  delegation,  and  that  it 


88  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

may  be  applied  to  uses  better  calculated  to  lighten  the  taxation  of 
our  citizens. 

"  Your  Committee  feel  convinced  that  as  a  financial  measure 
the  subject  is  important,  and  that  some  policy  should  be  adopted 
of  a  permanent  character.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
emigration  to  this  port  will  increase  rather  than  diminish,  and 
that  legislation  shoulcj  equally  regard  the  interest  of  the  city  and 
the  emigrant.  To  repose  the  duty  of  alleviating  the  sufferings  of 
the  alien  stranger  to  a  class  of  men  prompted  by  every  selfish  con 
sideration  to  avoid  the  responsibility,  is  to  legalize  a  system  of 
outrage  and  oppression.  The  claims  of  the  sick  and  destitute 
should  be  entertained  and  relieved  by  the  authorities  of  our  city, 
and  not  be  decided  by  those  interested  in  denial  or  delay. 

"  Your  Committee  have  before  them  a  memorial  in  favor  of 
the  proposed  alteration  of  the  law,  signed  by  the  acting  presidents 
of  the  Irish,  German,  British,  Scotch,  and  Welsh  emigrant  socie 
ties,  which  states  that  '  the  change  would  increase  the  revenues 
of  the  city,  and  secure  the  emigrants  from  the  frauds  now  prac 
tised  upon  them.'  Resolutions  adopted  at  a  large  public  meeting 
evince  that  the  subject  is  one  of  public  interest. 

"  The  sympathies  of  the  adopted  citizens  have  been  enlisted 
especially  in  this  question  from  the  peculiar  opportunity  they 
enjoy  of  becoming  familiar  with  the  workings  of  the  present  sys 
tem,  and  a  natural  desire  which  they  entertain  not  only  to  secure 
the  emigrant  from  the  treatment  to  which  he  has  been  for  years 
exposed,  but  gradually  to  establish  a  fund  from  commutation 
adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  the  alien  poor. 

"  For  these  reasons,  a  law  should  be  passed,  authorizing  the 
Mayor  or  Recorder  to  require  the  payment  of  a  commutation  fee 
of  one  dollar  for  each  passenger,  or  bonds  at  his  election.  The 
law  might  be  rendered  still  more  advantageous  by  requiring  that 
each  surety  to  any  bond  taken  under  the  act  duly  make  oath  at 
the  time  of  becoming  surety  that  he  is  a  householder,  resident  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  intending  to  reside  there  permanently,  and 
worth  the  sum  or  sums  in  which  he  is  bound,  over  and  above  all 
Ms  debts,  and  over  and  above  all  liabilities,  whether  by  bond  or 
suretyship,  or  otherwise. 

"  The  propriety  of  reserving  to  the  Corporation  the  power  ol 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  89 

requiring  passengers  to  be  bonded  in  certain  cases  appears  obvious 
on  examining  the  history  of  emigration,  and  the  unscrupulous 
conduct  of  European  governments  and  cities  in  transferring  to 
our  country  aged  and  decrepit  paupers,  and  occasionally  even 
criminals.  Without  this  provision  to  arrest  abuses  so  obviously 
calculated  to  demoralize  the  community  and  increase  the  burden 
of  taxation,  any  change  in  the  law  would  be  impolitic.  The  ad 
mission  of  such  persons  would  bring  odium,  however  unmerited, 
upon  the  industrious  and  intelligent  emigrant,  and,  as  far  as  your 
Committee  had  the  opportunity  of  consulting  the  opinions  of  citi 
zens  by  adoption,  they  appeared  strongly  in  favor  of  the  proposed 
restriction." 

On  January  18,  1847,  the  Comptroller  recommended  to  the 
Common  Council  that  a  further  application  be  made  to  the  Legis 
lature  for  the  passage  of  a  law,  vesting  in  the  Mayor  the  power  of 
commuting  or  bonding  alien  passengers.  "  As  the  enactment  of 
this  law,"  says  the  Comptroller,  "  will  afford  partial  indemnity  to 
the  city,  without  drawing  a  dollar  from  the  treasury  of  the  State 
or  imposing  any  additional  burden  upon  the  immigrants,  it  is  be 
lieved  that  a  very  moderate  degree  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
City  Delegation  in  the  Legislature  will  serve  to  secure  its 
passage." 

By  this  time,  public  opinion  had  become  aroused  to  the  import 
ance  of  the  proposed  changes.  The  subject  was  discussed  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  of  New  York,  and  the  opposition  to  the 
insufficient  measures  suggested  by  the  Common  Council  took  a 
definite  form  early  in  the  session  of  1847,  in  a  letter  written  by 
Robert  B.  Minturn,  a  distinguished  merchant  of  New  York,  to 
Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  the  influential  editor  of  the  Albany 
Evening  Journal.  Mr.  Weed  for  two  or  three  years  previously 
had  been  doing  what  he  could  individually,  and  through  the 
columns  of  the  Journal,  for  the  protection  of  the  immigrants,  whose 
sufferings  he  had  daily  occasion  to  witness  at  Albany,  where  the 
canal  boat-runners  were,  if  possible,  still  more  hungry  and  rapa 
cious  than  the  boarding-house  scalpers  in  New  York. 

In  consequence  of  Mr.  Minturn's  letter,  which  first  took  a 
comprehensive  view  of  the  subject,  Mr.  Weed  went  to  New  York 


forts  of  Messrs. 
Minturn, 


90  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

to  confer  with  Mr.  Minturn,  Mr.  Andrew  Carrigan,  and  the  late 
Archbishop  Hughes,  in  regard  to  the  details  of  a  law  which  should 
fully  secure  the  emigrant.  These  preliminary  steps  alarmed  the 
Almshouse  Commissioners,  to  whom  the  power,  both  in  a  pecuni 
ary  and  political  sense,  was  of  too  much  value  to  be  surrendered. 
Those  Commissioners  induced  the  Common  Council  to  press  the 
immediate  passage  of  a  law  to  protect  emigrants  from  fraud  and 
imposition.  That,  however,  was  simply  a  flank  movement.  The 
provisions  of  their  bill  merely  kept  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear 
of  the  emigrants.  In  the  meantime,  the  real  friends  of  reform 
prepared  a  substitute,  which,  when  the  Assembly  bill  came  to  the 
Senate,  was  oifered  by  Senator  F.  F.  Backus,  from  Monroe 
County.  The  various  influences  unfavorably  affected  by  the  sub 
stitute  oifered  by  Dr.  Backus  united  and  made  desperate  efforts 
to  defeat  it.  An  earnest  but  unsuccessful  party  appeal  was  made 
to  senators  by  the  late  John  Yan  Buren  and  other  distinguished 
politicians. 

!coinumoncoun-  Alarmed  at  the  aspect  of  the  question  in  the  Senate,  the 
senuatengt.he^Tew  York  Common  Council,  on  March  15,  1847,  took  up  this 
fSSkSt^  miportant  subject,  and  passed  a  series  of  resolutions  for  the  pur- 
n  pas""  Pose  °^  submitting  them  to  a  public  meeting,  to  be  called  irre 
spective  of  party.  The  Mayor  approved  these  resolutions  on 
March  17,  1847: 

"  Whereas"  they  say  in  their  proceedings,  " The  number  of 
emigrant  passengers  annually  arriving  at  this  port  has  steadily 
advanced  from  11,501  in  1829  to  114,000  in  1846 ;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  Passenger  Act  adopted  in  1824,  by  imposing 
the  bonding  system  exclusively,  has  gradually  enabled  mercenary 
brokers  and  agents  to  assume  the  charge  and  custody  of  the  sick 
and  destitute  stranger,  and  from  various  causes  greatly  increased 
the  burdens  of  taxation ;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  annual  expenses  of  the  Almshouse  Depart 
ment  have  now  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars ;  during  the  month  of  January,  five  thou 
sand  three  hundred  and  forty-three  persons  being  sustained  at  the 
expense  of  the  city,  and  out-door  relief  extended  to  nearly  three 
thousand;  and 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  91 

"  Whereas,  A  bill  correcting  these  important  evils,  and  pro 
tecting  the  interests  of  the  city  and  the  emigrant,  has  been  recently 
passed  with  great  unanimity  by  the  Assembly  of  this  State,  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  Common  Council,  and  various  emigrant 
societies,  irrespective  of  party,  but  has  been  arrested  in  the 
Senate,  either  from  misunderstanding  the  nature  and  magni 
tude  of  the  evil,  or  from  the  influence  of  those  pecuniarily  in 
terested  in  its  defeat,  and  whose  profits  are  partially  derived  from 
the  injustice  and  inhumanity  connected  with  the  present  system  ; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Common  Council  earnestly  and  confi 
dently  urge  on  the  Senate  the  prompt  adoption  of  a  law  which  may 
afford  protection  to  the  city  and  the  alien  passengers,  and  which, 
by  providing  a  uniform  commutation  fee  of  one  dollar  for  every 
industrious  emigrant,  and  making  it  the  duty  of  public  authorities 
to  retain  them  in  the  event  of  sickness  and  destitution,  will  effec 
tually  prevent  the  extortions  now  practised  in  Europe  in  relation 
to  the  rates  of  commutation,  and  secure  them,  on  their  arrival, 
from  the  treatment  to  which  they  are  now  exposed  in  private  alms- 
houses  and  hospitals. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  bonding  reserved  under  the  proposed 
law  is  expressly  for  the  c  infirm,  decrepit,  and  those  likely  to  be 
come  a  permanent  charge,'  and  is  a  distinct,  plain,  and  reasonable 
provision,  calculated  to  prevent  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  indiscri 
minately  introducing  into  our  city  persons  from  their  respective 
poor-houses,  physically  and  mentally  incapacitated  for  labor,  to 
become  necessarily  a  permanent  charge  upon  our  public  or  private 
charities. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Honor  the  Mayor  be  requested  to  call  a 
public  meeting  of  the  citizens,  irrespective  of  party,  to  take  this 
subject  into  consideration,  and  urge  on  the  Legislature  the  neces 
sity  and  justice  of  prompt  action. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  from  both 
Boards  to  make  arrangements  for  such  public  meeting,  and  pre 
pare  suitable  memorials  to  the  Legislature." 


The  meeting  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  resolutions  was 
for  March  22,  1847,  to  be  held  at  the  Tabernacle  in  Broadway.       5W?ommo! 


92  THE  COMMISSIONEKS  OF  EMIGEATION. 

Mr.  Carrigan,  on  learning  the  names  of  two  prominent  Demo 
crats  wlio  had  been  spoken  of  to  preside  at  the  meeting,  called 
on  them,  and  frankly  and  fairly  stated  the  merits  of  the  whole 
question.  Those  gentlemen  declined  to  serve ;  and,  finally,  Mr. 
Charles  O'Conor  was  designated.  Mr.  O'Conor,  before  taking 
the  chair,  had  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  merits  of  the 
two  bills,  and  unhesitatingly  approved  of  that  submitted  by  Dr. 
Backus.  The  speakers  named  for  the  occasion  were  Messrs. 
Charles  O'Conor  and  John  McKeon,  each  of  whom  was  expected 
to  sustain  the  views  of  the  Almshouse  Commissioners  and  the 
Common  Council.  These  speakers  also,  in  preparing  themselves 
for  the  occasion,  possessed  themselves  of  information  which  en 
tirely  changed  the  programme. 

MtKiied  VIS-  The  Tabernacle  was  densely  filled  at  an  early  hour.  The 
idzeeucs?de  ;it~  question  to  be  passed  upon  having  in  the  meantime  been  ex 
tensively  discussed,  the  independent  citizens  took  the  matter 
into  their  own  hands,  and  the  majority  of  those  present,  instead 
of  responding  to  the  principles  of  the  bill  urged  by  the  Common 
Council,  were  in  favor  of  a  law  which,  while  it  looked  to  the  pro 
tection  of  the  city,  had  regard  also  for  the  welfare  of  emigrants. 
For  this  reason,  the  nomination  first  of  Mr.  Campbell,  then  of 
Alderman  Purser,  who  were  in  favor  of  the  Common  Council's 
bill,  for  chairman,  was  rejected,  and,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Carrigan, 
Charles  O'Conor  was  called  to  the  chair  by  acclamation,  and,  on 
the  same  gentleman's  motion,  Charles  H.  Marshall,  Moses  H.  Grin- 
nell,  James  B.  Nicholson,  and  G-.  W.  Blunt  were  appointed  Secre 
taries.  James  T.  Brady  and  Alderman  Purser  addressed  the 
meeting  for  the  Common  Council,  the  latter  offering  resolutions 
in  support  of  the  bill.  John  McKeon  took  a  broader  and  more 
philanthropic  view  of  the  question,  and  submitted  the  following 
resolutions,  which?  after  those  offered  by  Alderman  Purser  had 
been  rejected,  were  adopted  by  an  emphatic  majority : 

Keeoiutions   of       "  Whereas,  The  law  of  this  State  relative  to  passengers  arriv- 

Mr.  John  Me-  .  J ,  -,..-,      i 

Keon  advising  ing  at  the  port  oi  JN  cw  I  orK,  as  at  present  administered,  has 
lndTPppoaina*  failed  alike  to  afford  indemnity  to  the  city  and  protection  to  the 
5£ioner?°to  emigrant,  causing  a  traffic  in  their  sufferings  which  is  abhorrent 

administer  the          ,  .  . 

fund.  to  humanity,  creating  private  hospitals  and  poor-houses,  which 


THE  COMMISSIONEKS-  OF  EMIGKATION.  93 

give  to  the  emigrant  neither  the  food  nor  care  proper  to  their 
situation,  and  deny  to  their  dying  hours  even  the  consolation  of 
religion ;  and,  whereas,  a  bill  has  passed  the  House  of  Assembly, 
which  tends  in  some  measure  to  remedy  these  evils,  and  is  now 
before  the  Senate  of  the  State,  awaiting  its  action  ; 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  any  and  all 
legislation  on  this 'subject  should  be  directed  in  that  course  which, 
while  it  but  advances  the  interests  of  the  emigrant,  will  have  re 
ference  to  the  complete  indemnity  of  the  city  and  State  from  their 
support,  and  will  not,  at  the  same  time,  by  imposing  unnecessary 
burdens  on  the  honest  ship-owner,  tend  to  enhance  the  price  of 
passage  and  retard  immigration  from  lands  of  starvation  to  lands 
of  plenty. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  enactment  of  a  law  requiring,  from  the 
master  or  consignee  of  any  vessel  arriving  at  this  port  with  foreign 
emigrants,  the  sum  of  one  dollar  for  each  and  every  passenger, 
with  the  privilege  of  exacting  instead  thereof,  in  cases  of  mental 
or  physical  incapacity  for  self-support,  where,  from  the  total 
want  of  relatives  and  friends,  such  persons  are  liable  to  become 
charges  to  the  city  or  State,  bonds  which  will  secure  the  city  or 
State  for  their  support,  will  create  a  fund  which,  properly  admin 
istered,  will  not  only  relieve  the  city  and  State  from  a  heavy  bur 
den,  but  will  greatly  benefit  the  emigrant. 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  it  would  be 
advisable  to  separate  the  receipt  and  disbursement  of  the  fund  so 
to  be  created  from  the  rest  of  the  city  revenue,  and  place  the 
same  in  the  hands  of  commissioners,  whose  high  character  and 
moral  integrity  would,  apart  from  all  political  considerations, 
be  the  guarantee  for  the  proper  administration  of  their  duties. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  proceed 
to  Albany,  and  urge  upon  the  Legislature  the  passage  of  a  law 
Conformable  to  the  policy  of  the  preceding  resolutions." 

On  motion  of  Mr.  McKeon,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chair  proceed  to  appoint  the  Committee." 

The  Chairman  then  announced  the  following  gentlemen  as  the 
Committee :  James  Lee,  George  Montgomery,  Mortimer  Living 
ston,  Theodore  Sedgwick,  and  Andrew  Carrigan. 


94:  THE  COMMISSIONEKS  OF  EMIGEATION. 

On  motion, 

"  Resolved^  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  authenti 
cated,  and  transmitted  to  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  New  York." 

E cardgan toll-       ^  the  committee  above  named,  Mr.  Carrigan  alone  went  to 
of  wn.passage  Albany,  and  in  a  great  measure  it  is  due  to  his  indefatigable 
exertions  that  the  Legislature  finally  passed  the  people's  bill. 

The  Common  Council  likewise  appointed  a  committee  to  pro 
ceed  to  Albany  and  oppose  the  passage  of  the  bill.  On  that  com 
mittee  were  two  Whig  aldermen,  namely,  Abraham  Wakeman 
and  Thomas  McElrath.  These  two  aldermen  were  the  personal 
and  political  friends  of  Mr.  Weed.  The  attention  of  neither  had 
been  previously  directed  to  the  enormous  frauds  to  which 
emigrants  were  subjected.  But  as  they  were  just  and  fair  men, 
the  facts,  when  presented  to  them,  had  the  effect  produced  upon 
all  impartial  minds.  Messrs.  "Wakeman  and  McElrath  returned 
immediately  to  ISTew  York,  and  reported  themselves  in  favor  of 
the  measure  which  they  had  been  sent  to  Albany  to  oppose. 

The  bill  introduced  by  Dr.  Backus  and  drafted  by  Senator  Ira 
Harris  had  the  support,  with  one  exception,  of  all  the  "Whig 
senators.  That  exception  was  the  Hon.  George  Folsom,  of  New 

BUI  passed  by  York.  It  required  the  votes  of  eight  Democratic  senators,  of  which 
he  :CotSLieu£  number  seven  only  could  be  obtained,  and  this  occasioned  a  tie 
vote,  so  that  the  bill  was  finally  passed  by  the  casting  vote  of  the 
Lieutenant-Governor.  That  Lieutenant-Governor  w^as  the  Hon. 
Addison  Gardiner,  of  Rochester.  Judge  Gardiner,  though 
greatly  and  deservedly  esteemed  by  his  Democratic  friends,  was 
accused  by  the  excited  opponents  of  the  bill  with  listening  too 
readily  to  the  representations  of  Mr.  Weed,  with,  whom  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  had  been  for  many  years  on  terms  of  warm 
personal  friendship.  The  simple  truth  was  that  Judge  Gardiner 
was  too  enlightened  and  philanthropic  to  allow  any  considerations 
but  those  of  justice  and  duty  to  influence  his  action  upon  such 
a  question.  The  same  motives  and  feelings  prompted  Mr. 
John  E.  Develin,  of  the  Assembly,  to  give  his  voice  and  vote  for 
the  bill.  The  bill  was  finally  saved  by  the  casting  vote  of  Lieu 
tenant-Governor  Gardiner.  The  highest  praise,  however,  for 


vote 

Gov.  Gardiner 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  95 

their  indefatigable  and  successful  services  in  the  cause  of 
humanity  belongs  to  Messrs.  Thurlow  Weed  and  Andrew  Carri- 
gan.  Both  these  gentlemen  received,  of  course,  more  than  then- 
share  of  abuse  from  the  politicians  of  New  York  for  the  stand 
they  had  taken. 

"  For  an  effort  made  to  reform  these  great  wrongs,"  said  Mr. 
"Weed  on  a  later  occasion,  "  I  encountered  the  combined  hostility 
of  the  'scalpers;'  was  threatened  with  personal  assault,  and 
deluged  with  libel  suits.  On  one  occasion,  I  was  required  to 
appear,  on  the  same  day,  before  seven  magistrates  in  seven  differ 
ent  and  distant  towns." 

The  said  bill  became  a  law  on  May  5,  184:7,  and  still  remains  F1ti?n 
the  law  of  the  State.  The  first  Emigrant  Commissioners  were 
Gulian  C.  Verplaiick,  James  Boorman,  Jacob  Harvey,  Robert  B. 
Minturn,  "William  F.  Havemeyer,  and  David  C.  Golden.  In  the 
bill  as  reported  by  the  Committee,  a  blank  was  left  for  the  names 
of  the  Commissioners.  Gn  the  morning  of"  the  day  that  the  bill 
was  to  come  up  as  a  special  order,  Mr.  Carrigan  and  Mr.  Weed 
met  at  the  house  of  the  Hon.  Ira  Harris,  the  Chairman  of  the 
committee  that  reported  the  bill,  to  designate  Commissioners. 
It  was  understood  between  them  that  gentlemen  of  high  intelli 
gence,  stern  integrity,  and  proverbial  benevolence  only  should  be 
appointed  Commissioners ;  and  then,  without  indicating  names, 
each  privately  wrote  the  number  to  be  appointed  on  a  slip  of 
paper.  Gn  comparing  names,  all  those  found  on  Mr.  Carrigan's 
slip,  with  one  exception,  were  found  also  upon  Mr.  Weed's,  who 
had  named  Mr.  Carrigan  instead  of  Mr.  Harvey.  Mr.  Carrigan 
a  year  later  succeeded  Mr.  Havemeyer  in  the  Board,  and,  after 
five  years'  service,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Irish  Emigrant 
Society,  and  thus  continued  his  connection  with  the  Commission 
as  an  ex-officio  member  for  about  twelve  years. 

The  principal  features  of  the  act  creating  the  Board  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  which,  since  its  passage  on  May  5, 
1847,  have  been  a'mended  several  times,  in  their  present  shape 
read  as  follows : 

"  §  1.  Within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  landing  of  any  pas-  El£j*™$°£  act. 
senger  from  any  ship  or  vessel  arriving  at  the  port  of  New  York,   ™HTng°eC al° 


96  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

from  any  of  the  United  States  other  than  this  State,  or  from  any 
country  out  of  the  United  States,  the  master  or  commander  of 
the  ship  or  vessel  from  which  such  passenger  or  passengers  shall 
have  been  landed  shall  make  a  report  in  writing,  on  oath  or 
affirmation,  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or,  in  case  of 
his  absence,  or  other  inability  to  serve,  to  the  person  discharging 
the  duties  of  his  office,  which  report  shall  state  the  name,  place 
of  birth,  last  legal  residence,  age,  and  occupation  of  every  person 
or  passenger  who  shall  have  landed  from  such  ship  or  vessel  on 
her  last  voyage  to  said  port,  not  being  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  have,  within  the  last  twelve  months, 
arrived  from  any  country  out  of  the  United  States,  at  any  place 
within  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not  have  paid  the  com 
mutation  money,  or  been  bonded  according  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  or  of  the  act  hereby  amended,  or  of  the  act  of  February 
eleventh,  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-four,  concerning  passen 
gers  in  vessels  coming  to  the  port  of  New  York,  nor  paid  com 
mutation  money  under  the  provisions  of  this  or  any  former  act. 
The  same  report  shall  contain  a  like  statement  of  all  such  persons 
or  passengers  aforesaid  as  shall  have  been  landed,  or  been 
suffered  to  land,  from  any  such  ship  or  vessel  at  any  place  during 
such  last  voyage,  or  who  shall  have  been  put  on  board,  or  suffered 
to  go  on  board,  of  any  other  ship,  vessel,  or  boat,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  proceeding  to  and  landing  at  the  said  city  of  New  York,  or 
elsewhere  within  the  limits  of  this  State.  The  said  report  shall 
further  specify  whether  any  of  the  said  passengers  so  reported 
are  lunatic,  idiot,  deaf,  dumb,  blind,  infirm,  maimed,  or  above  the 
age  of  sixty  years,  also  designating  all  such  passengers  as  shall 
be  under  the  age  of  thirteen,  or  widows  having  families, 
or  women  without  husbands  having  families,  with  the  names 
and  ages  of  their  families,  and  shall  further  specify  particu 
larly  the  names,  last  place  of  residences,  and  ages  of  all ;  pas 
sengers  who  may  have  died  during  the  said  last  voyage  of  such 
vessel,  also  the  names  and  residences  of  the  owner  or  owners  of 
such  vessel.  In  case  any  such  master  or  commander  shall  omit 
or  neglect  to  report  as  aforesaid  any  such  person  or  passenger, 
with  the  particulars  aforesaid,  or  shall  make  any  false  report  or 
statement  in  respect  to  any  such  person  or  passenger,  or  in 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  97 

respect  to  tlie  owner  or  owners  of  any  such  vessel,  or  in  respect 
to  any  of  the  particulars  hereinbefore  specified,  such  master  or 
commander  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  seventy-five  dollars  for  every 
such  passenger  in  regard  to  whom  any  such  omission  or  neglect 
shall  have  occurred,  or  any  such  false  report  or  statement  shall  be 
made,  for  which  the  owner  or  owners,  consignee  or  consignees,  of 
every  such  ship  or  vessel  shall  also  be  liable,  jointly  and  severally, 
and  which  may  be  sued  for  and  recovered  as  hereinafter  pro 
vided. 

"  §  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  'Mayor,  or  other  person  owner  or  con- 
discharging  the  duties  of  his  office  aforesaid,  by  an  endorsement 
to  be  made  on  the  said  report,  to  require  the  owner  or  consignee 


of  the  ship  or  vessel  from  which  such  persons  were  landed,  to  in  report111 
give  a  several  bond  to  the  people  of  the  State,  in  a  penalty  of 
three  hundred  dollars  for  each  and  every  person  or  passenger 
included  in  such  report,  such  bond  being  secured  as  hereinafter 
provided,  and  conditioned  to  indemnify  and  save  harmless  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration  and  each  and  every  city,  town,  or 
county  in  this  State  from  any  cost  which  said  Commissioners  or 
such  city,  town,  or  county  shall  incur  for  the  relief  or  support  of 
the  person  named  in  the  bond,  within  five  years  from  the  date  of 
such  bond,  and  also  to  indemnify  and  refund  to  the  said  Commis 
sioners  of  Emigration  any  expense  or  charge  they  may  neces 
sarily  incur  for  the  support  or  medical  care  of  the  persons 
named  therein,  if  received  into  the  Marine  Hospital  or  any  other 
institution  under  their  charge.  Each  and  every  bond  shall  be  Each  bond  to  be 

»  secured  by  two 

secured  by  two  or  more  sufficient  securities,  being  residents  of  £resmore  *ure' 

the  State  of  New  York,  each  of  whom  shall  prove  by  oath  or 

otherwise  that  he  is  owner  of  a  freehold  in  the  State  of  the  value 

of  three  hundred  dollars  over  and  above  all  or  any  claim  or  lien 

thereon,  or  against  him,  including  therein  any  contingent  claim 

which  may  accrue  from  or  upon  any  former  bond  given  under 

the  provisions  of  this  act  ;  or  such  bond  may,  at  the  option  of  the 

party,  be  secured  by  mortgage  of  real-estate,  or  by  the  pledge 

and  transfer  of  public  stock  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  State 

of  New   York,   or  of  the  city  of  New  York,   or  by  deposit 

of  the   amount   of  penalty  in   some  bank   or  trust   company; 

such   security,  real  or  personal,  having  been  first  approved  by 


98  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

the    said    Mayor.      It    shall    be   lawful   for  any  owner  or  con 
signee,  at  any  time  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  landing 
of  such   persons  or  passengers   from   any  ship  or  vessel  in  the 
port    of    New    York,    except    as    in    the    section    hereinafter 
con-  provided,  to   commute  for  the  bond  or  bonds  so  required,  by 
the1 b'oncL  for  Pajing  (to  the  Health  Commissioner  of  the  city  of  New  York) 
commutation  the  sum  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents*  for  each  and  every  passen- 

money.  *  . 

ger  reported  by  him  as  by  law  required ;  the  receipt  of  such  sum 
(by  said  Health  Commissioner)  shall  be  deemed  a  full  and  suffi 
cient  discharge  from  the  requirements  of  giving  bonds  as  above 
provided.  And  fifty  cents  of  the  amount  commuted  for  any  pas 
senger  or  passengers  shall  be  set  aside  as  a  separate  fund  for  the 
benefit  of  each  and  every  county  in  this  State,  except  the  county 
of  New  York.  The  Commissioners  of  Emigration  shall  deposit 
the  moneys  of  said  fund,  so  set  apart,  in  any  bank  that  the  said 
Commissioners  may  select,  and  the  same,  or  as  much  of  it  as  may 
be  necessary,  shall  be  distributed  to  the  several  counties,  except 
the  county  of  New  York,  once  in  every  three  months,  and  the 
balance  that  may  be  left  after  such  three  months'  payment  shall 
be  paid  over  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  for  general 
purposes. 
condition  of  "  §  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 

passengers    to  «/ 

into.examined  hereafter  named,  to  examine  in,to  the  condition  of  passengers  ar 
riving  at  the  port  of  New  York  in  any  ship  or  vessel,  and  for 
that  purpose  all  or  any  of  the  said  Commissioners,  or  such  other 
person  or  persons  as  they  shall  appoint,  shall  be  authorized  to  go 
on  board  and  through  any  such  ship  or  vessel ;  and  if  on  such  exa 
mination  there  shall  be  found  among  such  passengers  any  lunatic, 
idiot,  deaf,  dumb,  blind,  maimed,  or  infirm  persons,  or  persons 

The  original  amount  of  the  commutation  money  was  one  dollar  (law  of 
May  5,  1847).  By  the  Act  of  July  11, 1851,  §  7,  it  was  increased  to  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents,  and  to  be  paid  directly  to  the  Chamberlain  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
By  Act  of  April  13, 1853,  §  13,  it  was  further  increased  to  two  dollars  ;  by  Act  of 
May  14,  1867,  it  was  temporarily  raised  to  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents ;  and  by 
Act  of  May  10,  1869,  it  was  unconditionally  fixed  at  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 
As  the  commutation  is  paid  in  currency,  while  the  shipping-merchants  receive 
it  in  gold,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  in  fact  no  increase,  and  that  the  amount  of 
$2  50  currency  is  actually  less  than  the  sum.  of  $2,  which,  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  was  paid  in  gold. 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  99 

above  the  age  of  sixty  years,  or  widow  with  a  child  or  children, 
or  any  woman  without  a  husband,  and  with  child  or  children,  or 
any  person  unable  to  take  care  of  himself  or  herself  without  be 
coming  a  public  charge,  or  who,  from  any  attending  circumstan 
ces,  are  likely  to  become  a  public  charge,  or  who,  from  sickness  or 
disease,  existing  at  the  time  of  departure  from  the  foreign  port, 
are,  or  are  likely  soon  to  become,  a  public  charge,  they  shall  report 
the  same  to  the  said  Mayor  particularly,  and  thereupon,  and  un 
less  a  bond,  as  required  in  the  second  section  of  this  act,  shall 
have  been  given,  the  said  Mayor,  or  the  person  discharging  the 
duties  of  his  office,  shall  require  in  the  endorsement  to  be  made 
as  aforesaid,  or  in  any  subsequent  endorsement  or  endorsements 
thereon,  and  in  addition  to  the  commutation  money,  that  the 
owner  or  consignee  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  with  one  or  more  suffi 
cient  sureties,  shall  execute  a  joint  and  several  bond  to  the  people 
of  the  State  in  a  penalty  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  every  such 
passenger,  conditioned  to  indemnify  and  save  harmless  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration,  and  each  and  every  city,  town,  or 
county  within  the  State,  from  any  further  cost  or  charge  which 
said  Commissioners,  or  any  such  city,  town,  or  county,  shall  incur 
for  the  maintenance  or  support  of  the  person  or  persons  named  in 
such  bond,  or  any  of  them,  within  five  years  from  the  date  of 
such  bond.  The  sureties  of  the  said  bonds  shall  be  required  to 
justify  before  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  officer  making  such 
endorsement,  and  by  their  oath  or  affirmation  shall  satisfy  such 
officer  that  they  are  respectively  residents  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  worth  double  the  amount  of  the  penalty  of  such  bond, 
over  and  above  all  debts,  liabilities,  and  all  property  exempt  from 
execution.  The  subsequent  endorsement  authorized  in  this  sec 
tion  may  be  made  at  any  time  within  thirty  days  after  such  ex 
amination,  or  of  the  landing  of  any  such  person  or  passenger. 

"§  4.  Gulian  C.  Yerplanck,  James  Boorman,  Jacob  Harvey,  commissioners 
Robert  B.  Minturn,  William  F.  Havemeyer,  and  David  C.  Col- 
den  are  hereby  appointed  Commissioners,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  into  effect  the  intent  and  provisions  of  this  act,  of  whom 
the  said  Gulian  C.  Yerplanck  and  James  Boorman  shall  constitute 
the  first  class,  and  shall  hold  their  office  two  years ;  and  the  said 
Jacob  Harvey  and  Eobert  B.  Minturn  shall  constitute  the  second 


100  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

class,  and  hold  their  office  four  years ;  and  the  said  William  F. 
Havemeyer  and  David  C.  Golden  shall  constitute  the  third  class, 
and  hold  their  office  for  six  years ;  and  upon  the  expiration  of 
their  several  terms  of  office  their  places  shall  be  filled  by  appoint 
ments,  to  be  made  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  advice  and  con 
sent  of  the  Senate,  and  the  persons  so  appointed  shall  respective 
ly  hold  their  offices  for  the  term  of  six  years.  The  Mayor  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  the  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  German  Society,  and  the  President  of  the  Irish  Emi 
grant  Society  of  New  York,  shall  also  severally,  by  virtue  of  their 
Their  powers,  respective  offices,  be  Commissioners  as  aforesaid.  The  said  Com 
missioners  shall  be  known  as  the  l  Commissioners  of  Emigra 
tion,'  and  by  that  title  shall  be  capable  of  suing  and  being  sued. 
The  money,  so  as  aforesaid  to  be  paid  to  the  Chamberlain  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  shall  be  paid  out  on  the  warrant  of  the  said 
Commissioners,  or  a  majority  of  them.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  said  Commissioners  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  and  sup 
port  of  such  of  the  persons  for  whom  commutation  money  shall 
have  been  paid  as  aforesaid,  or  on  whose  account  bonds  shall  have 
been  taken  as  aforesaid,  as  would  otherwise  become  a  charge  upon 
any  city,  town,  or  county  of  this  State ;  and  the  said  Commission 
ers  shall  appropriate  the  moneys  aforesaid,  for  that  purpose,  in 
such  manner  as  to  indemnify,  so  far  as  may  be,  the  several  cities, 
towns,  and  counties  of  the  State,  for  any  expense  or  charge  which 
may  be  incurred  for  the  maintenance  and  support  of  the  persons 
aforesaid;  such  appropriation  shall  be  in  proportion  to  the  ex 
penses  incurred  by  said  cities,  towns,  and  counties,  severally,  for 
such  maintenance  and  support.  And  the  more  fully  to  effect  the 
object  contemplated  by  this  act,  the  said  Commissioners  are 
authorized  to  apply  in  their  discretion  any  part  of  the  said 
money,  to  aid  in  removing  any  of  said  persons  from  any  part  of 
this  State  to  another  part  of  this  or  any  other  State,  or  from  this 
State,  or  in  assisting  them  to  procure  employment,  and  thus  pre 
vent  them  from  becoming  a  public  charge.  The  said  Commis 
sioners  are  also  authorized  in  their  discretion  to  apply  any  part 
of  the  said  moneys  to  the  purchase  or  lease  of  any  property,  or 
the  erection  of  any  building,  which  they  may  deem  necessary  for 
the  purposes  aforesaid.  But  any  expense  so  incurred  by  the 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION.  101 

Commissioners  in  any  city,  town,  or  county  shall  be  charged  to 
the  share  of  such  moneys  which  any  such  city,  town,  or  county 
shall  be  entitled  to  receive  thereof,  for  expense  incurred  in  the 
support  or  maintenance  of  the  persons  for  whom  commutation 
money  shall  have  been  paid  as  aforesaid,  or  on  whose  account 
bonds  shall  have  been  taken  as  aforesaid. 

"  §  5.  In   case   any  of  the  persons  for  whom   commutation  pro  vision  m 

i  .  ,  „  .  -,  n  i  i          T    -i  i  case  of  persons 

money  has  been  paid  as  aforesaid,  or  for  whom  a  bond  has  been  ^^^^ 
given  as  aforesaid,  shall,  at  any  time  within  five  years  from  the  werengiveu.nd8 
payment  of  such  money  or  the  execution  of  such  bond,  become 
chargeable  upon  any  city,  town,  or  county  within  this  State,  it 
^shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  Commissioners  to  provide  for  the 
payment  of  any  expense  incurred  by  any  such  city,  town,  or  county 
for  the  maintenance  and  support  of  any  such  person,  out  of  the 
commutation  money  to  be  paid  as  aforesaid,  and  the  moneys  col 
lected  on  such  bonds,  so  far  as  the  same  wTill  enable  them  to  do 
so.  The  said  Commissioners  shall  prescribe  such  rules  and  regu 
lations  as  they  shall  deem  proper  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  right  and  the  amount  of  the  claim  of  any  city,  town,  or 
county  to  indemnity  under  the  provisions  of  this  and  the  pre 
ceding  section.  The  said  Commissioners  shall  have  power  to 
provide  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  any  persons  for  whom 
commutation  money  shall  have  been  paid,  or  on  whose  account  a 
bond  shall  have  been  given  as  hereinbefore  provided,  and  who 
shall  become  chargeable  upon  any  city,  town,  or  county  in  such 
manner  as  they  shall  deem  proper ;  and  after  such  provision  shall 
have  been  made  by  such  Commissioners,  such  city,  town,  or  coun 
ty  shall  not  be  entitled  to  claim  any  further  indemnity  for  the 
support  and  maintenance  of  such  person. 

"§  6.  The  said  Commissioners  are  authorized  to  employ  such  Ap   intment  ot 
agents,  clerks,  and  servants  as  they  shall  deem  necessary  for  the   Sglm?  V the 

/»      '        .j  a   .  TT  .         /»        .1      .        Co'.m mi ^ion- 

pUrpOSeS  atoresaid,  and  to  pay  a  reasonable  compensation  for  their    ers. 

services  out  of  the  moneys  aforesaid. 

"  §  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  Mayor,  or  other  person  $2  M  to  be  paid 
discharging  the  duties  of  his  office  as  aforesaid,  by  an  endorse-  BeVer.cb  pas" 
ment  to  be  made  on  the  said  report,  to  require  the  master  or 
commander  of  such  ship  or  vessel  to  pay  to  the  Chamberlain  of 
the  city  of  Xew  York  the  sum  of  two  dollars  and  a  half  for 


102  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

every  person  or  passenger  reported  by  said  master  or  com 
mander  as  aforesaid,  which  sum  shall  be  paid  as  aforesaid 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  landing  of  such  person  or  pas 
senger  from  any  ship  or  vessel  arriving  at  the  port  of  ISTew 
York. 
commissioners  «  8  g.  The  said  Commissioners  shall  annually,  on  or  before  the 

to    report    to  J  ' 

are-  first  day  of  February  in  each  year,  report  to  the  Legislature  the 
amount  of  moneys  received  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  during 
the  preceding  year,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  same  has  been 
appropriated  particularly. 

acb°CBuS)')i!edr  "  §  ^'  ^n  case  °^  a  vacancj  m  the  said  Board  of  Commissioners, 
the  same  shall  be  filled  by  an  appointment  to  be  made  by  the 
Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate. 
The  person  so  appointed  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  remainder 
of  the  term  of  the  person  in  whose  place  he  shall  be  appointed. 
The  said  Commissioners  shall,  in  all  cases,  be  residents  of  the  city 
of  ~New  York  or  city  of  Brooklyn. 

*bronu  ?ht  on  "  §  -^'  ^  any  Person  f°r  whom  a  bond  shall  have  been  given 
as  aforesaid  shall,  within  the  time  specified  in  such  bond,  become 
chargeable  upon  any  city,  town,  or  county  of  this  State,  or  upon 
the  moneys  under  the  control  of  the  said  Commissioners  as  afore 
said,  the  said  Commissioners  may  bring  an  action  on  such  bond 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  this  State,  and  shall  be  entitled  to 
recover  on  such  bond  from  time  to  time  so  much  money,  not  in 
the  whole  exceeding  the  penalty  of  such  bond,  exclusive  of  costs, 
as  shall  be  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  by  any  such 
city,  town,  or  county,  or  the  said  Commissioners,  for  the  mainte 
nance  and  support  of  the  person  for  whom  such  bond  was  given  as 
aforesaid,  and  shall  be  authorized  to  collect  and  apply  such  money 
from  any  of  the  real  or  other  security  mortgaged,  pledged,  or  de 
posited  therefor  in  conformity  to  this  act. 

penalty  in  canes       "  §  11.  Any  owner  or  consignee  as  aforesaid,  who  shall  neglect 

of  neglect  or  " 

or  refuse  to  give  any  such  bond  or  bonds  and  security  therefor,  as 
hereinbefore  required,  for  each  person  or  passenger  landing  from 
his  ship  or  vessel,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  landing  of 
such  persons  or  passengers,  in  respect  to  bonds  required  by  the 
second  section  of  this  act,  or  shall  not  within  that  time  have  paid 
the  moneys  authorized  by  said  second  section  to  be  received  in 


THE  COMMISSIONEKS  OF  EMIGKATION.  103 

cases  where  such  bonds  are  herein  authorized  to  be  commuted 
for,  every  such  owner  or  consignee  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  several 
ly  and  respectively,  shall  be  subject  to  a  penalty  of  five  hundred 
dollars  for  each  and  every  person  or  passenger  on  whose  account 
such  bond  may  have  been  required,  or  for  whom  such  commuta 
tion  money  might  have  been  paid  under  this  act ;  such  penalty  to 
be  sued  for  as  provided  for  in  the  twelfth  section  of  the  said  act 
hereby  amended. 

"  §  12.  The  penalties  and  forfeitures  prescribed  by  this  act  may  HOW  recovered, 
be  sued  for  and  recovered  with  costs  of  suit  by,  and  in  the  name 
of,  said  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  in  any  court  having  cogni 
zance  thereof,  and,  when  recovered,  shall  be  applied  to  the  pur 
poses  specified  in  this  act.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  Com 
missioners,  before  or  after  suit  brought,  to  compound  for  any  of 
the  said  penalties  or  forfeitures,  upon  such  terms  as  they  shall 
think  proper. 

"  §  13.  Any  ship  or  vessel,  whose  master  or  commander,  S1i^biertovpeuai8 
owner  or  owners,  shall  have  incurred  any  penalty  or  forfeiture  ties' 
under  this  act,  or  under  the  Act  of  April  11,  1849,  amending  the 
same,  entitled,  '  An  Act  to  amend  certain  acts  concerning  passen 
gers  coming  to  the  city  of  New  York,'  shall  be  liable  for  such 
penalties  or  forfeitures  which  may  be  a  lien  upon  such  ship  or 
vessel,  and  may  be  enforced  and  collected  by  warrant  of  attach 
ment  in  the  same  manner  as  is  provided  in  title  eighth  of  chapter 
eighth  of  the  third  part  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  all  the  provisions 
of  which  title  shall  apply  to  the  forfeitures  and  penalties  im 
posed  by  this  act;  and  the  said  Commissioners  of  Emigration 
shall,  for  the  purposes  of  such  attachment,  be  deemed  creditors  of 
such  ship  or  vessel,  and  of  her  master  or  commander  and  owner 
or  owners  respectively. 

"  §  14.  The  said  Commissioners  of  Emigration  are,  and  each  Powers  of  com- 

.       ,          ,  missioners. 

of  them  is,  hereby  vested  with  the  same  powers  in  regard  to  the 
administering  oaths  of  office  to  employees,  and  to  the  binding  out 
of  children  with  consent  of  parents  or  next  of  kin,  actually 
chargeable  upon  them,  and  also  in  regard  to  persons  in  the  insti 
tutions,  or  any  of  them,  under  the  charge  of  said  Commissioners, 
for  the  prevention  or  punishment  of  an  infraction  or  violation  of 
the  rules  or  orders  and  regulation  of  such  Commissioners  or  their 


104:  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION. 

officers  in  regard  to  such  institutions  as  are  possessed  by  tho 
Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  and  Correction  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  or  any  of  them,  for  the  same  purposes. 

"  §  15.  "Whenever  any  alien  emigrant,  whose  personal  pro 
perty  shall  not  exceed  the  value  of  twenty-five  dollars,  shall  die  on 
the  passage  to  the  port  of  New  York,  or  in  the  Marine  Hospital,  or 
in  any  other  establishment  under  the  charge  of  the  Commissioners, 
and  in  all  cases  in  which  minor  children  of  alien  passengers  shall 
become  orphans  by  their  parents  or  last  surviving  parent  dying,  as 
aforesaid,  the  personal  property  which  such  alien  emigrant  or 
such  parent  or  parents  may  have  had  with  them,  shall  be  taken  in 
charge  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  to  be  by  them  appro 
priated  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  next  of  kin  of  such  alien  emi 
grant  or  of  said  orphan  children ;  and  said  Commissioners  shall 
give,  in  their  annual  report  to  the  Legislature,  a  minute  descrip 
tion  of  all  cases  in  which  property  shall  come  into  their  posses 
sion  by  virtue  of  this  section,  and  the  disposition  made  of  the 
same,  unless  it  shall  appear  that  there  are  other  persons  entitled 
by  will  or  otherwise  to  such  property  or  distributive  share  there 
of.  "Whenever  it  shall  so  appear,  the  portion  only  to  Avhich  the 
next  of  kin  or  said  minor  orphans  would  be  legally  entitled  shall 
be  transferred  to  them  or  applied  to  their  use,  and  the  remainder 
shall  be  received,  held,  and  distributed  to  the  parties  severally 
entitled  thereto,  in  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  autho 
rity  as  by  law  provided  in  respect  to  the  Public  Administrator  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  except  that  the  said  Commissioners  are 
hereby  authorized  to  distribute  the  same  after  a  notice  for  credi 
tors  to  appear  and  put  in  their  claims  within  one  week  from  the 
publication  of  the  said  notice.  The  said  notice  shall  be  published 
once  in  one  of  the  daily  papers  of  the  city  of  New  York." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

CASTLE    GARDEN1. 

THE  Commissioners  of  Emigration  organized  on  May  8, 1847,  ° 
at  the  Mayor's  Office  in  the  City  Hall,  and  on  June  14  elected 
Mr.  Win.  F.  Havemeyer  President,  who  resigned,  however,  in 
February,  1848,  and  was  succeeded,  on  March  1,  1848,  by  Mr. 
G.  C.  Yerplanck,  who  has  ever  since  held  that  office. 

The  work  of  the  Board  was  originally  apportioned  among 
several  standing  committees,  four  of  which  are  still  existing,  ^Sel  Con> 
namely,  the  Ward's  Island  Committee,  consisting  of  six  mem 
bers,  and  the  Auditing,  Finance,  and  Purchasing  Committees, 
of  which  the  two  former  consisted  each  of  three,  and  the  latter  of 
two  members.  In  the  course  of  years,  owing  to  the  increase  of 
business,  four  other  committees  were  added  to  the  original  four, 
namely,  the  Castle  Garden  (1855),  consisting  of  six  members;  the 
Railroad  (1867),  of  three;  the  Agencies  and  Counties  (1867),  of 
five;  and  the  Labor  Exchange  (1868),  Committees,  of  five  mem 
bers.  The  Marine  Hospital  Committee,  the  most  important  of 
the  original  four,  consisting  of  three  members,  ceased  to  exist 
when,  in  1859,  the  Commissioners  gave  up  the  Marine  Hospital. 

The  Commissioners  had  their  first  official  quarters  in  the  old  Quarters  of  the 

C  o  m  m  ission- 

Almshouse  building  (where  the  new  Court-House  stands  at  ers- 
present).  There  they  remained  until  January  19,  1854,  when 
the  building  was  destroyed  by  fire.  They  then  found  a  tempo 
rary  place  in  Franklin  Street,  between  Broadway  and  Elm  Street, 
for  the  meetings  of  the  Board,  where  the  offices  of  the  Vice- 
President  and  Secretary,  the  examining  physicians,  and  the 
receivers  of  applications  for  relief  or  admission  to  the  hospitals, 
were  also  located.  Another  office  was  kept  in  Canal  Street,  for 
the  reception  of  applications  for  employment,  advice,  or  similar 
aid.  But  an  alarm  soon  arose  from  the  apprehended  introduction 
of  contagious  diseases  in  the  neighborhood  of  both  locations, 
which  was  intensified  by  the  fear  of  the  owners  of  adjoining  real- 
estate  of  a  depreciation  in  the  value  of  their  property.  Injunc- 


106  CASTLE   GARDEN. 

tions  were  applied  for  and  granted  as  to  both  offices ;  but,  after 
an  injurious  interruption  of  more  than  two  weeks,  the  injunction 
against  the  Canal  Street  office  was  dissolved.  Before  the  other 
case  could  be  brought  to  trial,  the  cholera  made  its  appearance  in 
the  city,  and  the  almost  vacant  Franklin  Street  office  was  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Board  of  Health  as  a  cholera  hospital. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  an  opportunity  occurred  of  hiring 
on  lease  a  large  and  unoccupied  building  in  Anthony  Street — 
now  Worth — opposite  the  hospital  grounds,  a  few  doors  west  of 
Broadway,  erected  and  formerly  used  as  a  church  edifice,  a  loca 
tion  where  little  or  no  danger  could  be  apprehended  to  the 
neighborhood.  Here  the  Commissioners  remained  till  the 
spring  of  1858,  when  all  their  offices  were  removed  to  Castle 
Garden. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to  give  a  detailed  account 
of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  within  the  last  twenty-three 
years ;  but  its  design  is  to  point  out  only  that  part  of  their  history 
which  has  at  present  a  direct  bearing  on  the  protection  of  the 
emigrant.  To  this  end  we  shall  first  describe  Castle  Garden  and 
the  offices  connected  with  it,  and  next  the  institutions  on  "Ward's 
Island.  This  chapter  will  be  confined  to  Castle  Garden. 

^ne  Commissioners  were  not  long  in  discovering  that  the  bene 
volent  intentions  of  the  law  creating  their  Board  could  not  be 
realized  as  long  as  they  had  not  the  absolute  control  of  the 
emigrant,  and  as  long  as  they  were  thus  prevented  from  protect 
ing  him  against  the  frauds  practised  on  him  by  forwarders, 
boarding-house  keepers,  agents,  and  runners.  They  therefore, 
in  the  first  year  of  their  existence,  applied  to  the  Legislature  for 
an  act  authorizing  them  to  lease  a  dock  or  pier,  where  all  the 
emigrant  should  be  landed ;  where  no  outsiders  w^ould  be  allowed 
to  enter  without  permission  of  the  Commissioners ;  and  where  the 
emigrants  could  be  cautioned  and  admonished  against  all  the 
wiles  of  those  who  lay  waiting  for  him  on  his  arrival.  The  law 
of  April  11,  1848,  authorized  the  Commissioners  to  purchase  or 
to  lease  such  a  pier  or  dock,  and  by  virtue  of  this  act,  on  May  8, 
1848,  they  leased  from  the  Common  Council,  for  a  term  of  five 
Baiting  of  HU-  years,  the  large  and  commodious  pier  at  the  foot  of  Hubert 
pier.  6treet  Street,  at  an  annual  rent  of  $3,000. 


CASTLE   GARDEN.  107 

It  was  anticipated  that  this  pier  would  be  in  proper  order  for  injunction 
use  by  the  middle  of  July  ;  but,  to  the  surprise  of  the  Commis 
sioners,  they  were,  immediately  after  the  execution  of  the  lease, 
served  with  an  injunction,  obtained  by  some  of  the  residents  in 
the  neighborhood.  This  injunction  was  granted  and  sustained 
against  the  appeal  of  the  Commissioners  on  the  ground  that  the 
landing  of  emigrants  at  the  foot  of  Hubert  Street,  in  the  vicinity 
of  St.  John's  Park,  would  bring  into  a  quiet  part  of  the  city  a 
noisy  population,  without  cleanliness  or  sobriety  ;  would  endan 
ger  the  health  and  good  morals  of  the  ward,  and  seriously  affect 
the  value  of  real-estate. 

The  Commissioners  now  endeavored  to  get  some  other  land-  Difficulty  o  Be. 

,  ,  „      curing  a  suit- 

mg-place  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  where  the  nuisance,  if 


such  it  could  be  called,  already  existed,  and  where  the  emigrants 
for  a  number  of  years  had  been  landed.  But,  though  the  Com 
mon  Council,  whom  they  considered  bound,  in  a  measure,  to 
furnish  a  pier,  seemed  favorably  disposed,  yet  none  could  be  pro 
cured  and  rendered  suitable  for  the  purpose.  Consequently  the 
Commissioners  could  not  reach  the  emigrant  before  he  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  plunderers  who  stood  ready  to  deceive  him  ; 
frauds  which  had  formerly  excited  so  much  indignation  and  sym 
pathy  were  practised  with  as  much  boldness  and  impunity  as 
ever,  and  all  the  exertions  of  the  Commissioners,  though  benefi 
cial  in  many  cases,  were  quite  insufficient  to  put  an  end  to  these 
abuses. 

In  spite  of  repeated  petitions  to  the  Legislature  to  provide  Act  or  1955. 
efficient  remedies  by  giving  to  the  Commissioners  exclusive  pos 
session  and  occupation  of  a  pier  for  the  landing  of  newly  arrived 
emigrants,  it  took  just  eight  years  before  that  body,  by  the  Act 
of  April  13,  1855,  complied  with  that  wish.  This  act  was  as 
important  as  the  one  creating  the  Board  of  the  Commissioners, 
for  it  first  gave  the  power  to  afford  really  efficient  protection  to 
the  emigrant.  It  required  the  transporting  and  conveying  com 
panies  to  deliver  to  the  Mayors  of  New  York,  Troy,  Albany,  and 
Buffalo,  in  each  and  every  year,  a  written  or  printed  statement  of 
the  price  or  rates  of  fare  and  the  price  for  the  carriage  of  the 
baggage  of  the  emigrant  ;  it  specified  the  penalty  for  violating 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  authorized  the  Commissioners  of 


108 


CASTLE   GAKDEN. 


obstructions. 


Emigration  "to  designate  some  one  place  in  the  city  of 
York,  as  they  should  deem  proper,  for  the  landing  of  emigrant 
passengers  ;  providing  further  that  "  it  should  be  lawful  for  such 
passengers  to  be  landed  at  such  place  so  designated  ;  and  likewise 
(meaning  the  Commissioners)  to  purchase,  lease,  construct,  and 
occupy  such  wharves,  piers,  and  other  accommodations,  in  the 
city  of  'New  York,  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  accommodation  of 
emigrant  passengers." 

of  castie  This  important  act  finally  enabled  the  Commissioners  fully  to 
carry  out  the  benevolent  objects  of  their  trust.  From  that  time  only 
the  Board  could  be  said  to  be  clothed  with  the  necessary  powers 
and  to  have  become  responsible  for  the  well-being  and  protection 
of  the  emigrant.  The  Commissioners,  on  May  5,  1855,  leased  the 
old  fort  at  the  foot  of  Manhattan  Island,  known  as  Castle  Garden, 
and  immediately  proceeded  with  the  fitting  up  of  the  premises 
in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  designed  purpose. 

«  Owing,  however,"  says  the  Commissioners'  Report  for  1855, 
"  to  the  extensive  repairs  required,  and  the  obstructions  thrown 
in  the  way  by  those  who,  on  different  grounds,  apprehended  injury 
to  their  private  interests,  the  place  was  not  in  readiness  for  use 
until  the  first  of  August,  when  it  was  formally  opened  as  the 
Emigrant  Landing  Depot. 

"  It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  allude  to  the  efforts  made  to 
obstruct  the  execution  of  the  law  in  this  instance,  further  than 
to  state  that,  where  that  effort  was  resorted  to  with  the  design  of 
rendering  nugatory  the  power  conferred,  and  for  the  ejectment  of 
the  Commissioners  from  the  occupancy  of  Castle  Garden,  the  courts 
have  sustained  the  law  in  its  beneficent  objects,  and  the  Commis 
sioners  in  the  possession  of  the  premises  for  the  purpose  of  carry 
ing  the  law  into  effect  ;  and  that,  where  violence  threatened  with 
a  strong  hand  to  lay  waste  and  destroy,  the  police  authority  of  the 
city,  by  prudent  and  decisive  action,  effectually  checked  the 
thoughtless  and  lawless  in  their  course,  and  preserved  a  valuable 
property  from  destruction  or  damage,  and  the  reputation  of  the 
State  from  disgrace. 

"  ^wo  hundred  an(*  #%  vessels  have  landed  their  passengers 
at  the  Depot  in  the  five  months  it  has  been  in  operation,  bring 
ing,  in  the  aggregate,  fifty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fourteen 


BLnaufidfng°f 


CASTLE   GARDEN.  109 

persons,  during  which  period  no  accident  of  any  kind  has  occurred. 
All  have  been  landed  safely,  without  accident  to  themselves  or 
property.  When  landed,  proper  means  have  been  used  to  secure 
their  comfort  and  protection.  They  have  been  screened  from  the 
intrusion  of  that  class  of  persons  who  have  heretofore  abused  the 
confidence  of  the  emigrants,  and  despoiled  them  of  the  means  they 
had  provided  to  convey  them  to  their  ultimate  destination,  and  to 
sustain  them  after  they  had  reached  it — who  have  long  been  in 
the  practice  of  taking  possession  of  the  person  and  property  of 
confiding  emigrants,  and  seldom  permitting  them  to  pass  out  of 
their  hands  without  damage ;  in  many  cases  reducing  them  from 
comparative  affluence  to  destitution,  and  making  them  subjects 
for  relief  by  the  funds  of  the  Commission ;  but  in  a  larger  propor 
tion  crippling  their  means  to  an  extent  which  has  affected  their 
after  life. 

"  Every  facility  is  provided  at  the  Depot,  for  those  whose  desti 
nation  is  to  the  interior,  to  proceed  without  unnecessary  delay ;  and 
without  need  or  pretext  for  intercourse  with  the  class  of  persons  in 
the  city  before  mentioned.  By  this  arrangement,  much  for  the 
benefit  of  the  emigrant,  the  shipper,  the  Commission,  and  the 
community  at  large,  has  been  accomplished.  Among  these  bene 
fits  may  be  mentioned : 

"First. — To  the  emigrants.  In  a  more  safe  and  speedy To Emigrants- 
landing  of  their  person  and  effects :  In  the  greater  safety  of  their 
effects  after  having  been  put  on  shore,  depredators  being  limited 
to  fellow-passengers,  and  but  slight  opportunity  existing  for  suc 
cessful  pillage  by  them.  In  relief  from  the  importunities  and 
deceptions  of  runners  and  bookers.  In  being  enabled  to  continue 
their  journey  without  delay  from  the  same  wharf  where  they  had 
just  landed.  In  relief  from  all  charges  and  exactions  for  landing, 
'  baggage  smashing,'  and  porterage ;  and,  where  they  are  proceed 
ing  to  the  interior,  from  cartages.  In  being  enabled  to  obtain  pas 
sage  tickets  at  the  lowest  rates  directly  from  the  various  trans 
porting  companies.  In  having  their  baggage  accurately  weighed ; 
and  in  being  relieved  from  excessive  charges  for  that  which  is 
extra.  In  obtaining  reliable  information  relative  to  the  various 
routes  of  travel  throughout  the  country.  In  being  relieved  from 


110  CASTLE  GAKDEN. 

the  necessity  of  transporting  their  baggage  to  boarding-houses 
when  exigencies  require  a  temporary  sojourn  in  the  city  of  ISTew 
York.  And  thus  in  being  enabled  to  depart  for  their  future  homes 
without  having  their  means  impaired,  their  morals  corrupted,  and 
probably  their  persons  diseased. 

TO  shippers.  "  Second. — To  the  shipper.     In  the  greater  readiness  with 

which  passengers  are  discharged  where  freight  and  merchandise 
do  not  interrupt  the  process.  In  the  ship  being  relieved  of  its 
passengers  at  once,  and  immediately  on  arrival.  In  the  consignee 
being  relieved  from  the  supervision  of  the  landing  of  the  passen 
gers. 

T2i*S? commis'  "  Third— To  the  funds  of  the  Commission.  In  the  increased 
facility  afforded  for  the  discovery  of  cases  liable  to  special  bond. 
In  the  opportunity  for  ascertaining  the  means  of  passengers  for 
support.  In  the  reduction  of  sickness  and  distress  among  Emi 
grants.  In  the  diminished  proportional  number  that  will  become 
a  charge  to  the  Commissioners ;  and  in  the  means  to  readily  dis 
cover  paupers  and  criminals  transported  hither. 

TO  statisticians.  "  Fourth. — To  the  statistician.  In  furnishing  reliable  data  of 
the  fiscal  means  of  emigrants  on  arrival ;  in  developing  the  points 
of  individual  destination ;  thus  exhibiting  the  number  of  persons 
who,  at  the  time  of  arrival,  are  destined  for  each  State,  and  the 
money-means  with  which  they  are  provided. 

TO  .the  cominu-  "Fifth. — To  the  community  in  ""general.  In  the  diminution 
of  human  suffering.  In  the  reduction  of  calls  on  the  benevolent 
throughout  the  country ;  and  in  the  dispersion  of  a  band  of  out 
laws  attracted  to  this  port  by  plunder,  from  all  parts  of  the  earth." 

rSk®  These  predictions  were  verified  by  the  experience  of  every  sub 
sequent  year.  The  establishment  at  Castle  Garden  fully  proved 
its  efficiency  and  usefulness.  The  decisions  of  the  courts  in  1856 
.  and  1857  upon  deliberate  argument  and  advisement  having  put 
an  end  to  all  legal  obstacles  attempted  to  be  interposed  to  this 
establishment  on  the  part  of  persons  who  on  various  grounds 


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CASTLE   GARDEN.  Ill 

feared  or  thought  their  pecuniary  interests  affected,  the  opposition 
did  not  since  extend  beyond  acts  of  inferior  but  continued  annoy 
ance,  originating  with  those  who  had  formerly  profited  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  the  newly  arrived  and  friendless 
strangers.  As  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter,  during  the  first  year 
of  the  working  of  the  institution  several  hundred  emigrant  run 
ners,  unable  to  follow  this  business  any  longer  in  New  York, 
left  for  California.  When  those  who  remained  here  discovered 
that  by  applying  to  the  Jaw  or  by  threatening  and  abusing  they 
could  not  undo  what  the  Act  of  April  13,  1855,  had  brought 
about,  they  in  the  end  either  disappeared  or  submitted  to  the  new 
state  of  things. 

A  successful  experience  of  fifteen  years  has  now  confirmed 
utility  of  the  establishment  at  Castle  Garden.  The  able  and  effi-  Depot- 
cient  Superintendent,  Mr.  John  A.  Kennedy,*who  first  organized 
that  department,  discharged  the  duties  of  his  station  until  June, 
1860,  when  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  Superintendent 
of  the  Metropolitan  Police.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  present 
Superintendent,  Mr.  Bernard  Casseiiy,  who  has  most  efficiently 
performed  the  duties  of  his  office.  It  has  contributed  largely  to 
the  success  of  Castle  Garden  that  the  services  of  two  very 
able  executive  officers  were  secured,  that  during  the  whole  time  of 
its  existence  only  one  change  has  taken  place  in  the  highest  execu 
tive  office,  and  that  consequently  uniformity  and  regularity  in  the 
service  could  be  maintained. 

A  description  of  the   several  departments,  among  which  the  D 
various  duties  are  divided,  will  give  an  idea  Jiow  business  has   Depot 
been  and  is  now  carried  on  at  Castle  Garden. 

I.  The  Boarding  Department. — On  arrival  at  the  Quaran-  B™r?mlnt.  Dc 
tine  Station  (six  miles  below  the  city),  every  vessel  bringing  emi 
grant  passengers  is  boarded  by  an  officer  of  this  department,  sta 
tioned  there  for  the  purpose,  who  ascertains  the  number  of  passen 
gers,  the  deaths,  if  any,  during  the  voyage,  and  the  amount  and 
character  of  sickness,  examines  the  condition  of  the  vessel  in  respect 
to  cleanliness,  and  receives  complaints,  of  which  he  makes  report 
to  the  General  Agent  and  Superintendent  at  Castle  Garden  ;  he 
remains  on  board  the  ship  during  her'  passage  up  the  Bay,  to  see 


112  CASTLE  GARDEN. 

that  the  law  prohibiting  communication  between  ship  and  shore 
before  emigrant  passengers  are  landed  is  enforced.  On  casting 
anchor  in  the  stream,  convenient  to  the  Landing  Depot,  he  is 
relieved  by  an  officer  of  the  Metropolitan  Police  force,  detailed  at 
the  Castle  Garden,  and  the  passengers  are  transferred  to  the 
care  of 

X 

LSeS.gDepart"  H.  The  Landing  Department,  under  the  supervision  of  which 
the  Landing  Agent  proceeds  with  barges  and  tugs,  accompanied 
by  an  Inspector  of  Customs,  to  the  vessel.  After  an  examination 
of  the  luggage,  it  is  checked,  and  the  passengers,  with  their  lug 
gage,  are  transferred  to  the  barges  and  tugs,  and  landed  at  the 
Castle  Garden  pier.  On  landing,  the  passengers  are  examined  by 
a  Medical  Officer,  to  discover  if  any  sick  have  passed  the  Health 
authorities  at  Quarantine  (who  are  thereupon  transferred  by  steam 
er  to  the  hospitals  on  Ward's  or  Blackwell's  Island),  and  likewise 
to  select  all  subject  to  special  bonds  under  the  law — as  blind 
persons,  cripples,  lunatics,  or  any  others  who  are  likely  to  become 
a  future  charge.  This  examination  being  ended,  the  emigrants 
are  directed  into  the  Rotunda,  a  large-roofed  circular  space  in  the 
centre  of  the  Depot,  containing  50,000  square  feet,  and  with  a  dome 
in  the  centre  for  ventilation,  about  75  feet  high,  with  separate 
compartments  for  English-speaking  and  other  nationalities,  to 

De"  HI.  The  Registering  Department,  where  the  names,  nation 
ality,  former  place  of  residence,  and  intended  destination  of  the 
emigrants,  with  other  particulars,  are  taken  down,  thus  forming 
an  interesting  record  for  future  reference.  The  passengers  are 
then  directed  to 


Railroad 
AKents. 


IY.  The  Agents  of  the  Railroad  Companies,  from  whom  they 
can  procure  tickets  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
without  the  risk  of  fraud  or  extortion  to  which  they  are  subjected 
outside  of  the  Depot.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  baggage  and  luggage 
are  stored  east  of  the  Eotunda  in  the  baggage-room.  The  old 
accommodations  being  insufficient,  a  new  baggage-room  was  built 
in  1869.  The  necessity  for  this  improvement  had  long  been  felt, 
the  old  room  not  having  anything  like  the  proper  capacity  to  contain 


CASTLE   GARDEN.  113 

the  immense  quantity  of  baggage,  which  numbered  at  times  7,000  Baggage  Room, 
pieces.  The  new  building,  which  was  finished  in  October, 
1869,  at  a  cost  of  nearly  §75,000,  is  200  by  350  feet,  and  is  amply 
sufficient  to  accommodate  15,000  pieces  of  baggage.  The  very  per 
fect  system  by  which  the  thousands  of  trunks  and  boxes  are  dis 
tinguished  and  delivered  safely  to  their  respective  owners  is  well 
worthy  of  explanation.  A  brass  ticket,  with  any  letter  of  the 
alphabet  from  A  to  F  inclusive,  and  a  number  from  1  to  600,  is 
delivered  to  the  emigrant  on  landing,  and  a  duplicate  fastened  on 
his  piece  of  baggage.  The  trunk  or  box  is  then  placed  in  the 
baggage-room.  This  room  has  six  bins,  designated  by  the 
letters  A,  13,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  each  bin  has  six  hundred 
numbers.  Accordingly,  when  the  emigrant  produces  his  ticket, 
a  baggageman  at  once  goes  to  the  bin  indicated  by  the  letter 
and  number  on  the  ticket,  and  delivers  the  baggage  required. 
In  case  of  necessity,  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  can  be  used  in 
a  similar  way. 

The  emigrants  destined  inland,  on  delivery  of  their  check, 
take  their  baggage  to  the  weigher's  scales.  After  having  been 
weighed  and  paid  for,  it  is  sent  free  of  charge  to  the  depot  of  the 
railroad  or  dock  of  the  steamboat  by  which  he  leaves.  Such  emi 
grants  as  design  remaining  in  this  city  and  vicinity  are  directed  to 

Y.  The  City  Baggage  Delivery,  which  ascertains  the  address  city  Baggage 
to  which  the  emigrants  may  desire  to  have  their  luggage  sent,  and 
takes  their  orders,  exchanging  the  brass  check  received  from  the 
Landing  Agent,  on  shipboard,  for  a  printed  paper  one.  The  lug 
gage  is  then  promptly  delivered  in  any  part  of  this  city  and  vicinity 
at  a  moderate  rate  of  charges,  approved  by  the  Commission.  At 
the  same  time,  those  having  gold  or  silver  which  they  may  wish  to 
have  exchanged  for  United  States  currency  are  directed  to  one  ot 
three 

VI.  Exchange  Brokers,  admitted  into  the  Depot,  who  changes  Exchange  Brok- 
their  specie  for  a  small  advance  on  the  market  rate,  which  is  set 
forth  in  a  conspicuous  place  under  the  observation  of  the  emigrant, 
the  daily  fluctuations  in  rates  being  duly  noted. 

These  last  three  departments  are  conducted  by  responsible  par- 


114  CASTLE   GARDEN. 

ties,  who,  while  not  officers,  are  nevertheless  under  the  close  and 
constant  supervision  of  the  Commission,  and  are  required  to  keep 
a  record  of  all  transactions,  subject  to  the  inspection  of  any  mem 
ber  of  the  Board. 

Inpar?meL°tnD6"  VII.  The  Information  Department.  —  When  the  foregoing 
operations  are  completed,  the  emigrants  are  assembled  in  the 
Rotunda,  and  an  officer  of  the  Commission  calls  out  the  names  of 
those  whose  friends  attend  them  in  the  waiting-room  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Depot,  and  to  wrhom  they  are  directed.  At  the  same  time 
are  called  out  the  names  of  those  for  whom  letters  or  funds  are 
waiting,  which  are  then  delivered  to  the  proper  owners  through 
the  Forwarding  Department.  Emigrants  who  desire  to  communi 
cate  with  friends  at  a  distance  are  referred  to 

L2lpEartment?g  YIIL  The  Letter-  Writing  Department,  where  clerks,  under 
standing  the  various  Continental  languages,  are  in  attendance  to 
write ;  the  emigrant,  wThile  waiting  a  reply,  if  destitute,  finds  a 
home  in  the  institutions  at  Ward's  Island. 

Boarding-House  IX.  Boarding-House  Keepers*  licensed  by  the  Mayor  and  pro 
perly  certified  as  to  character  by  responsible  parties,  are  admitted 
to  the  Rotunda  after  the  foregoing  business  has  been  completed, 
to  solicit  for  their  respective  houses  such  emigrants  as  desire  to 
remain  in  the  city  for  any  length  of  time.  These  boarding-house 
keepers  are  subjected  to  careful  supervision  and  to  certain  regula 
tions,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  and  every  precau 
tion  is  taken  to  guard  the  emigrant  against  the  abuses  and  impo 
sition  to  which  he  was  formerly  liable. 

Fpartm«nt?  De"  X.  The  Forwarding  Department  receives,  through  the  Treas 
urer,  all  communications  and  remittances  from  friends  of  emi 
grants,  sent  either  before  their  arrival  or  in  response  to  letters 
written  by  the  Letter  Department,  and  applies  them  to  the  pur 
chase  of  tickets.  The  amount  of  money  and  orders  for  passage 
received  and  disbursed  through  it  will  be  found  under  the  head 
relating  to  the  Treasurer's  duties. 

d       XI.  The  Ward} s  Island  Department  receives  all  applications 


CASTLE   GARDEN.  115 

for  admission  to  the  Institutions,  and  examines  the  records,  to 
ascertain  the  right  of  the  applicant  to  admission.  It  also  keeps 
the  records  of  all  daily  admissions  to,  and  discharges  from,  Ward's 
Island,  and  examines  the  records  in  all  cases  of  claims  for  indem 
nity  from  the  several  counties  of  the  State  for  emigrants  charge 
able  to  the  Commission  who  may  have  received  aid  or  support  in 
such  counties.  Attached  to  this  Department  are  two  physicians, 
whose  duties  are  to  examine  all  sick  and  destitute  applicants  for 
relief,  and  to  visit  all  such  at  their  residences  in  this  city,  and  re 
port  to  the  General  Agent. 

XII.  The  Labor  Exchange. — A   Labor  Exchange  was  first  Lab  or    EX 

change. 

established  in  1850.  The  increasing  number  of  persons  demand 
ing  the  aid  and  advice  of  the  Commissioners,  and  the  widely  ex 
tended  knowledge  of  their  arrangements  for  the  disposal  of  labor 
ers,  made  it  necessary  to  hire,  in  December,  1850,  a  large  double 
building,  Xos.  25  and  27  Canal  Street,  at  which  place  emigrants 
desiring  work,  and  persons  desiring  laborers,  found  ample  oppor 
tunity  for  meeting  their  wants ;  while,  prior  to  that  time,  useful 
employment  and  means  of  self-support  had  been  procured  to  over 
8,000  emigrants.  Proportionably  a  far  greater  amount  of  service 
was  rendered  to  them  with  the  additional  facilities  afforded  by 
the  Canal  Street  establishment.  Thus,  in  1851,  not  less  than 
18,204:  emigrants  were  provided  with  opportunities  for  self-sup 
port  in  such  kind  of  labor  as  their  previous  habits  best  qualified 
them  to  perform.  In  1862,  14,973  persons  were  provided  with 
places  or  employment ;  but  in  the  course  of  years  this  institution 
dwindled  down  to  a  mere  intelligence  office  for  city  servants. 
During  the  seven  years  from  1860  to  1866,  the  number  of  females 
who  found  employment  as  servants  through  the  Castle  Garden 
agency  amounted  to  40,222,  that  of  males  to  only  10,224. 

In  1867,  at  the  suggestion  of  Commissioner  Philip  Bissinger, 
the  office  was  revived  and  re-established  in  its  original  condition. 
The  present  Labor  Exchange  is  a  spacious  and  well-arranged 
building,  and  was  erected  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
named.  It  is  a  one-story  building,  80  by  52  feet,  with  a  large 
ventilator  in  the  roof,  thus  furnishing  an  ample  supply  of  fresh 


116  CASTLE   GAKDEN. 

air  and  light,  and,  being  situated  on  the  additional  ground  added 
to  these  premises  in  1867  by  permission  of  the  public  authorities, 
it  is  easily  accessible  without  disturbing  the  arrangements  of  the 
landing  depot. 

In  the  centre  of  the  floor,  a  sufficient  space  has  been  railed  off, 
and  reserved  for  officers  and  for  use  of  employers.  On  one  side 
are  seated  the  male  emigrants,  and  on  the  other  side  the  females, 
thus  securing  a  separation  of  the  sexes.  These  again  are  subdi 
vided,  according  to  their  several  occupations  and  the  length  of 
time  they  have  been  here,  and  also  into  those  with  and  without 
references.  Each  emigrant  on  entering  is  requested  to  enter 
his  or  her  name,  ship,  date  of  arrival,  and  character  of  employ 
ment  ;  while  every  employer  is  required  to  enter  his  or  her  name, 
residence,  recommendations,  references,  and  description  of  labor 
wanted. 

This  Labor  Exchange  furnishes  an  intelligence  office,  without 
charge,  for  emigrants  desirous  of  finding  employment  or  service 
in  the  city  or  at  a  distance  ;  and  undertakes  to  supply  all  sorts  of 
skilled  mechanical  and  agricultural  labor  to  employers  in  any  part 
of  the  United  States,  who  come  with  a  proper  guarantee  of  char 
acter  and  other  necessary  qualifications. 

The  Labor  Exchange,  since  its  reorganization,  >has  existed  for 
a  period  of  only  two  years ;  but  the  result  obtained  in  this  compa 
ratively  short  time  is  sufficient  to  prove  its  usefulness.  In  1868, 
it  procured  employment  for  31,143  emigrants,  namely,  18,11-4 
males  and  13,029  females ;  and,  in  the  year  1869,  for  3-4,955  emi 
grants,  namely,  22,844  males  and  12,111  females.  In  these  two 
years,  there  were  among  the  males  4,311  and  5,594  mechanics  re 
spectively  ;  while  the  balance  of  13,803  and  17,250  respectively 
were  agricultural  and  common  laborers.  Of  the  females,  there 
were  474  and  438  respectively  skilled  laborers  (seamstresses, 
cooks,  laundresses,  etc.),  but  12,555  and  11,673  respectively  were 
common  house-servants.  In  1868,  351  families  were  engaged, 
consisting  of  1,551  persons,  and,  in  1869,  452  families,  consisting 
of  1,232  persons. 

Those  who  were  employed  represented,  in  1868,  fifteen,  and, 
in  1869,  sixteen  nationalities.  Irish  and  Germans  w^ere  predomi 
nant.  Of  the  whole  number,  there  were,  in  1868,  9,269  male  and 


CASTLE   GARDEN. 


117 


11,975  female,  Irish,  Scotch,  or  English ;  and,  in  1869,  11,703 
males  and  11,340  females,  of  the  same  nationalities.  We  find  in 
the  Germans  and  Swiss  there  were,  in  1868,  8,034  males  and  921 
females,  and,  in  1869,  10,021  and  659  respectively ;  of  Scandina 
vians,  414  and  78  and  477  and  75  respectively ;  Dutch,  6  males 
in  1868  and  62  males  and  11  females  in  1869.  France,  Italy, 
and  Belgium  sent  274  males  and  35  females  in  1868  and  39  and 
7  respectively  in  1869.  As  a  curiosity,  it  may  be  stated  that,  in 
1868,  6,  and,  in  1869,  8  Moors  were  engaged ;  they  entered  their 
names  in  Arabic  letters. 

Of  the  emigrants  employed  by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Labor  Exchange  in  1868,  7,397  could  not  read  or  write,  namely, 
3,096  males  and  4,301  females ;  and,  in  1869,  7,139,  namely,  3,498 
males  and  3,641  females.  Among  the  9,269  Irish,  Scotch,  and 
English  engaged  in  1868,  there  were  2,714  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write ;  and  among  the  11,703  individuals  of  the  same 
nationalities  in  1869,  there  were  3,058  unable  to  read  or  write. 
Among  the  8,034  and  10,020  Germans  and  Swiss  in  the  two  cor 
responding  periods,  we  find  279  and  321  respectively  who  could 
not  read  or  write.  Of  the  23,315  Irish,  Scotch,  and  English 
female  servants  engaged  in  1868  and  1869,  7,682  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  and  of  the  1,825  females  of  other  nationalities  260 
were  equally  ignorant. 

The  States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  in  both  years  fur-, 
nished  employment  to  more  emigrants  than  the  rest  of  the 
United  States  together.  As  long  as  no  means  will  be  found  to 
neutralize  or  avoid  the  difficulty  and  risks  attending  the  trans 
portation  of  laborers  to  more  distant  regions,  this  state  of  affairs 
will  remain  unchanged.  In  both  years,  the  demand  was  much 
greater  than  the  supply.  Not  the  tenth  part  of  the  large  orders 
for  railroad  laborers  could  be  filled ;  and  only  a  small  part  of  the 
orders  for  farmers  (Germans)  and  common  laborers  (Irishmen) 
could  be  responded  to.  Of  the  immigrant  farm-laborers,  only  a 
small  number  remained  in  New  York,  the  majority,  and  especial 
ly  the  well-to-do  class,  proceeding  spontaneously  to  the  Western 
and  North-western  States.  Only  a  few  German  servant-girls 
asked  for  employment  through  the  Labor  Exchange. 

It  is  very  difficult,  and  at  present  almost  impossible,  to  direct 


L 


118  CASTLE   GAKDEN. 

the  European  mechanic  and  laborer  to  the  South,  which  has  thus 
far  tried  in  vain  to  attract  immigrants,  and  this  for  the  reason  that 
most  of  the  immigrants  look  out  first  for  the  place  where  they  are 
sure  of  employment.  It  is  in  vain  to  tell  them  that,  many  tracts 
of  land  are  to  be  had  cheap  or  even  for  nothing.  \  Work  is  more 
attractive  for  them  than  land,  at  least  at  first.  For  this  reason, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  large  settlements  of  Europeans  there, 
the  immigrant  is  attracted  to  the  "West  and  especially  the  North 
west,  where  the  fertile  soil  enables  farmers  to  give  ready  employ 
ment  to  all  the  laborers  that  may  present  themselves.  \ 

Explanation  of       This  is  the  whole  explanation  of  the  continual  flow  of  emigrant 
t™weftra  am"  laborers  into  those  regions.     There  is  work  there.     It  is  to  be 

not  to  South. 

found  everywhere,  work  which  they  understand,  work  which 
they  can  perform,  work  sufficiently  remunerative  to  warrant 
the  expectation  of  a  happy  future.  This  advantage  they  are 
sure  of  finding  only  in  the  West  and  North-west.  Once  em 
ployed,  they  easily  arrive  at  independence.  By  saving  their 
monthly  wages,  they  secure  the  means  of  attaining  it,  and 
when  the  proper  moment  comes  they  have  learned  by  expe- 
(  rience  where  to  settle  and  what  they  must  do  to  succeed. 
"  The  matter  is  simple,  and  requires  on  the  part  of  the  Western 
States  no  exertion  of  thought  or  money.  On  examining  the  condi 
tions  offered  by  the  South,  we  can  easily  detect  the  causes  which 
put  that  section  at  a  disadvantage  as  regards  the  supply  of  labor. 
A  class  of  farmers  ready  to  receive  the  laborers  who  may  offer 
themselves  is  almost  everywhere  wanting,  and  nowhere  more  so 
than  in  the  extreme  Southern  districts,  where  there  are  only  great 
planters,  whose  modes  of  cultivation  have  no  attractions  for  the 
immigrants.  The  European  immigrant  detests  the  work  in  gangs 
as  much  as  the  negroes  like  it.  His  individuality  is  overlooked, 
his  self-respect  impaired,  and  he  is  viewed  as  a  mere  unit  in  the 
mass.  He  seeks  not  the  planter,  but  the  former. 

The  great  land-owners  who  hold  large  tracts  of  land  wish  to 
cultivate  them  as  before  without  loss  of  time.  To  attain  their 
object,  they  must  always  keep  a  sound  stock  of  freed  slaves,  which 
daily  becomes  more  difficult  for  them,  as  the  number  of  laboring 
hands  is  continually  decreasing. 

What  will  happen  under  these  circumstances  may  be  inferred 


CASTLE   GABDEN.  119 

from  what  lias  been  said.  Tlie  inability  of  these  large  planters  to 
procure  the  needed  labor  will  cause  them  to  be  superseded  in  the 
course  of  time  by  small  farmers,  who  will  work  themselves,  and 
who  will  be  able  and  willing  to  employ  the  white  immigrants  like 
the  Western  farmers. 

A  modest  culture  is  required  with  two  or  three  hands,  living,  in 
a  patriarchal  way,  with  the  farmer's  family.  Whenever  that  will  be 
generally  introduced,  immigrants  will  come  and  remain,  or,  if  they 
leave  again,  it  will  be  to  settle  in  the  neighborhood.  Farms  should 
be  laid  out  for  the  reception  of  European  laborers,  and  it  is  upon 
the  formation  of  these  farms  and  the  introduction  of  Europeans 
that  the  future  of  the  South  depends.  Results  more  satisfactory 
to  both  the  Southern  people  and  the  immigrants  would  no  doubt 
be  reached,  if  some  such  plan  were  pursued  by  other  districts  as  that 
adopted  by  the  district  of  Kewberry,  South  Carolina. 

Here  an  Immigration  Society  has  been  formed,  under 
auspices  of  Rev.  T.  S.  Boinest,  consisting  of  the  most  notable  farmers  l  ITy>  s'  °' 
and  planters,  who  have  raised  a  fund  of  §5,000  or  $6,000  for  the 
purpose  of  defraying  the  necessary  travelling  and  other  expenses 
of  the  European  laborers  they  wish  to  employ.  By  this  means, 
the  society,  though  existing  but  two  years,  has  induced  about 
400  immigrants  to  make  the  district  (dewberry)  their  home, 
and  according  to  the  latest  reports  both  the  employers  and 
employees  are  satisfied  and  content. 

The  society  has  appointed  as  agent,  a  European,  Mr.  F.  W. 
Bruggemann,  who  is  familiar  with  the  character  and  wants  of  the 
immigrant,  and  forms  the  connecting  link  between  the  latter  and 
their  native  employers,  and  to  this  circumstance  is  due  the  happy 
result  of  its  efforts. 

]^s"orth  of  the  Rotunda  and  adjoining  it  are  the  offices  of  the  Offlces   of  tho 
Commissioners.     They  consist  of  three  rooms,  occupying  nearly   ££mmi8Sion- 
the  entire  front  of  the  building  on  the  second  floor,  and  include 
the  offices  of  the  General  Agent  and  Treasurer,  the  Meeting-Room 
of  the  Board,  and  the  General  Agent's  private  office. 

XIII.  The  General  Agents  Office  is  a  large  vaulted  room,  the  General  Agent's 
central  one  and  largest  of  the  three,  in  shape  a  parallelogram, 
extending  on  its  longest  axis  east  and  west,  and  containing  about 


120  CASTLE   GAKDEK. 

thirteen  hundred  square  feet.  Here  is  transacted  all  the  executive 
business  of  the  Commission,  complaints  are  heard  and  investigated, 
grievances  remedied,  and  the  general  correspondence,  except  that 
relating  to  the  Treasury  Department,  conducted  by  a  force  of 
several  clerks,  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  Deputy  Superin 
tendent.  To  this  officer  the  chief  clerks  of  the  various  depart 
ments  make  their  reports,  which  are  by  him  laid  before  the 
General  Agent,  who  bases  his  instructions  upon  them.  The 
General  Agent,  who  unites  with  these  functions  the  duties  ol 
Superintendent,  is  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  Commission — 
the  centre  and  focus  of  all  its  business.  He  controls  the  interior 
working  machinery  of  the  Commission,  transacts  its  outside  busi 
ness,  and  conducts  its  correspondence.  He  receives  all  communi 
cations  to  be  laid  before  the  Board,  and  acts  generally  as  secretary 
at  its  meetings.  He  also  supervises  the  inland  transportation  of 
emigrants,  and  his  vigilance  is  constantly  exercised  to  prevent 
the  extortions  and  impositions  in  the  way  of  overcharges  and 
delays  to  which  they  are  subjected.  It  is  his  office,  moreover, 
to  regulate  advances  on  the  luggage  of  emigrants,  which  are  made 
from  time  to  time  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Commission  to  enable 
the  owners  to  proceed  to  their  destination.  The  business  of  the 
Commission  before  the  Legislature  is  likewise  attended  to  by  this 
officer,  in  securing  such  amendments  to  the  emigration  laws  as  the 
experience  of  the  Commissioners  from  time  to  time  may  suggest. 

Treasurer's  DC-  XIY.  The  Treasurers  Department  is  conducted  by  the 
Treasurer,  Mr.  George  W.  "Wheeler,  who  has  most  creditably 
occupied  that  position  since  the  formation  of  the  Board,  and  by  two 
clerks  under  him.  It  is  divided  into  various  branches,  having 
severally  charge  of  correspondence,  of  the  money  affairs,  and  of  the 
business  with  the  various  counties  and  institutions  of  the  State. 

correspondence  A.  Correspondence. — One  of  the  clerks,  under  the  authority 
of  the  Treasurer,  receives  daily  from  the  New  York  General  Post- 
Office  all  letters  deposited  in  the  box  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Emigration,  comprising  letters  addressed  to  the  Commissioners  of 
Emigration;  to  the  Treasurer,  to  the  General  Agent  and  other 
officers  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  in  Castle  Garden ; 


CASTLE   GARDEN.  121 

to  the  Castle  Garden  Kailroad  Agency,  and  its  employees; 
to  the  Superintendent  of  Ward's  Island,  and  physicians,  employ 
ees,  and  emigrant  inmates  of  Ward's  Island ;  and  to  recently 
arrived  or  expected  emigrants  at  Castle  Garden. 

The  total  number  of  letters  received  during  the  year  1869? 
including  express  packages  containing  remittances  for  emigrants, 
was  23,917. 

All  letters  and  express  packages  addressed  to  the  Commis 
sioners  of  Emigration,  to  the  Treasurer,  or  to  emigrants  not  in 
the  institution  on  "Ward's  Island,  are  opened  and  read  or  dis 
tributed,  as  may  be  necessary.  Those  containing  money  or  other 
remittances  for  emigrants  are  retained  in  the  "Forwarding 
Office,"  a  branch  of  the  Treasurer's  Department.  A  daily  record 
is  made  of  all  receipts  under  appropriate  heads,  as  follows  :  Num 
ber  of  remittance ;  date ;  amount ;  from  whom  received ;  for 
whom ;  name  of  vessel ;  nature  of  remittance ;  destination,  etc. 

Many  remittances  are  received  for  emigrants  after  they  have 
landed  and  left  Castle  Garden.  Such  remittances  in  due  time  are 
applied  for  by  the  sender,  and  returned  immediately  on  applica 
tion.  Emigrants  very  often  neglect  to  apply  for  remittances  on 
hand,  although  duly  notified  that  such  are  awaiting  their  call. 
Such  remittances  are  also  returned  on  application  to  the  senders, 
either  by  mail  or  express,  or  to  the  parties  in  person  who  have 
made  deposits  with  this  department. 

Its  correspondence  is  large.  In  addition  to  that  incidental 
to  the  return  of  uncalled-for  remittances,  replies  are  made  to 
impatient  senders  of  remittances  for  emigrants,  who  either  have 
not  arrived  or  have  found  employment  from  the  Labor  Ex 
change  in  Castle  Garden,  or  perhaps  are  in  hospital  at  Ward's 
Island.  The  parties  so  employed  and  for  whom  remittances 
have  been  received  are  duly  notified  to  call  at  Castle  Garden  for 
the  purpose  of  being  forwarded  to  destination.  The  sender  is 
also  notified  of  the  whereabouts  of  his  or  her  relative  or  friend, 
and  of  the  time  when  it  is  probable  he  or  she  will  proceed  to  des 
tination.  From  August  27,  1860  (the  date  on  which  the  busi 
ness  connected  with  this  subject  was  transferred  to  the  Treasur 
er's  Department),  to  December  31,  1869,  the  total  number  of 
remittances  received  for  emigrants  was  35,227,  of  an  aggregate 


122  CASTLE   GARDEN. 

value  of  §4:81,955  21.     The   average  value  of  each  remittance 

received  was  $13  68.  The  following  statement  shows  the 
increase  of  business  in  this  one  branch  of  the  Correspondence  De 
partment  : 

There  was  received  in  1860,            ....  $6,034  60 

«                    "            1861,             ....  9,465  09 

«                    "            1862,             ....  18,990  55 

«                    "           1863,            ....  46,147  91 

«                    "            1864,             ....  58,583  44 

«                    "           1865,             ....  62,288  88 

«                    "           1866,            ....  57,359  11 

«                    «           1867,             ....  66,865  89 

"                   «           1868,            ....  64,054  70 

«                    "           1869,             ....  92,165  04 


$481,955  21 

Financial.  jj.  Money  Affairs. — The  commutation  fund,  created  and  de 

posited  according  to  law  with  the  Chamberlain  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  is  under  the  control  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 
and  is  drawn  upon  semi-monthly  by  the  Board,  to  defray  current 
and  other  expenses  of  the  Commission. 

Supplies  are  furnished  to  the  institution  at  Ward's  Island,  on 
requisition  of  the  steward,  countersigned  by  the  Superintendent 
of  Ward's  Island,  and  approved  by  the  Ward's  Island  Committee. 

The  requisitions  are  filled  by  the  authorized  purchasers,  who 
render  original  bills  of  all  articles  purchased. 

Drugs  and  medicines  are  supplied  on  requisition  of  the 
apothecary,  countersigned  by  the  Physician-in-Chief,  and  approved 
by  the  Ward's  Island  Committee.  The  requisitions  are  filled  in 
the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  steward. 

The  Treasurer  receives  from  the  steward  and  apothecary  state 
ments  of  all  articles  received  by  them  on  their  requisitions.  The 
bills  are  examined  and  compared  with  the  statements,  and  all 
charges  for  articles  not  included  in  the  statement  are  deducted. 

Many  articles  and  necessary  supplies  are  furnished  to  the 
institution  at  Ward's  Island  in  addition  to  those  called  for  on 
regular  semi-monthly  requisitions,  such  as  flour,  coal,  meat,  fish, 


CASTLE   GAEDEN.  123 

etc.,  etc.  All  bills  for  these  articles  are  sent  to  tlie  Superinten 
dent  of  Ward's  Island,  and,  if  correct,  are  certified  by  that  officer 
and  the  steward,  and  approved  by  the  "Ward's  Island  Committee. 
These  and  all  other  bills  for  supplies,  for  work  performed,  and  all 
claims  on  account  of  Ward's  Island  and  Castle  Garden,  are,  pre 
vious  to  each  semi-monthly  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Emigration,  submitted  to  the  Auditing  Committee,  consisting  of 
three  members  of  the  Board,  upon  whose  approval  they  are  pre 
sented  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  and  ordered  to  be  paid  in 
the  following  manner:  All  bills  and  claims  are  numbered  and 
entered  in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose.  A  warrant  is  drawn  and 
signed  by  six  Commissioners  (this  number  constituting  a  majority 
and  quorum  of  the  Board),  setting  aside  to  the  credit  of  the  Yice- 
President  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  from  the  commu 
tation  fund  in  the  hands  of  the  City  Chamberlain,  a  sum  equal  to 
the  aggregate  amount  of  these  bills  and  claims.  A  check  is  then 
drawn  to  the  order  of  each  claimant  (for  the  amount  respectively 
due  to  him),  signed  by  the  Yice-President,  and  countersigned  by 
one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration.  Receipts  correspond 
ing  with  the  number  of  the  checks  are  taken  by  the  treasurer  in  a 
book  kept  for  that  purpose. 

C.  Business  with   the    Counties  and  Institutions. — Claims  county  claims, 
against   the   commutation   fund   for  indemnity  for  expenses  of 
emigrants  wTho   have  become  chargeable  to  any  of  the  several 
counties  of  this  State  are  made  as  follows : 

The  agents  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  at  Albany, 
Rochester,  Suspension  Bridge,  Buffalo,  and  Dunkirk,  or,  where 
there  are  no  such  agents,  the  superintendent  or  overseer  of  the 
poor  in  the  locality  where  a  recently  arrived  emigrant  asks  relief 
or  assistance,  is  required  to  render,  under  oath,  to  the  Commis 
sioners  of  Emigration,  monthly  bills,  accompanied  by  an  affidavit 
of  the  person  who  has  received  relief  or  assistance,  in  which  the 
following  facts  have  to  be  set  forth,  namely :  Name  and  age  of  per 
son  ;  name  of  vessel  in  which  such  person  arrived  at  New  York  ; 
the  name  of  the  master  of  such  vessel ;  last  place  of  residence 
before  coming  to  New  York ;  and  that  he  or  she  has  no  relations 
or  friends  in  this  country,  able,  at  their  own  charge,  to  support 


124  CASTLE   GARDEN. 

him  or  her.  This  statement  is  compared  with  the  record  on  iilo 
in  the  office  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  and,  if  correct, 
and  the  charge  for  relief  reasonable  and  proper,  the  amount  is 
allowed  and  paid  to  the  superintendents  or  overseers  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  claims,  except  that  payment  for  expenses  of 
emigrants  in  the  several  cities,  towns,  and  counties  in  this  State 
is  made  but  once  during  the  year,  namely,  at  the  last  regular 
meetings  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  in  the  year. 

Monthly  bills  for  support  and  care  of  emigrants,  accompanied 
by  the  necessary  affidavits,  are  received  (at  present)  from  thirteen 
different  charitable  institutions  and  hospitals  situated  in  the 
several  cities  of  this  State.  These  bills  undergo  the  same 
examination  and  scrutiny  as  the  county  bills,  and  are  paid  quar 
terly.  The  total  amount  paid  to  the  several  counties  in  this 
State,  including  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  for  care  and 
support  of  emigrants,  from  the  organization  of  this  Commission, 
May  5,  1847,  to  December  31,  1869,  was  $994,279  92,  and  to 
institutions  and  hospital,  the  sum  of  $168,371  96;  making  the 
total  amount  reimbursed  to  counties,  cities,  towns,  and  institu 
tions,  $1,162,651  98,  as  will  more  fully  appear  from  the  table  in 
the  Appendix. 

Castle  Garden  is  open  both  day  and  night.  The  regular  busi 
ness  hours  are  from  8  o'clock  A.M.  to  5  o'clock  P.M.  ;  but,  in 
cases  of  necessity,  the  employees  are  obliged  to  remain  till  ten, 
and  even  later.  There  are  seven  private  watchmen  and 
seven  policemen,  whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  strict  guard  over  the 
emigrants,  and  to  preserve  order  and  discipline. 

The  yearly  rent  of  the  Garden  is  $12,000.  The  buildings, 
furniture,  and  fixtures  are  insured  at  $50,000,  and  the  baggage  of 
the  emigrants  at  $30,000. 

The  business  of  all  the  offices  connected  with  the  Staten 
Island  Boarding  Station  and  Castle  Garden  is  performed  by 
seventy-six  officers  and  employees,  from  the  General  Agent  to  the 
night-watchmen.  Together  their  yearly  salaries  amount  to 
$82,894. 


CHAPTEE     YII. 


PREVIOUS  to  the  year  1847.  the  Quarantine  law  pro  videdpr  OTIS  ion  for 

J  r  sick  emigrants 

for  the  care  of  the  sick  emigrant.     A  general  tax,  levied  under 


State  authority  on  all  passengers  arriving  at  the  port  of  New 
York,  was  applied  to  the  support  of  the  Marine  Hospital  at 
Quarantine.  Aliens  as  well  as  others  arriving  here,  suffering  under 
contagious  or  infectious  diseases,  such  as  yellow-fever,  ship-fever, 
etc.,  were  there  received  and  gratuitously  treated  for  one  year. 
But  no  further  provision  was  made  from  that  period  for  the  relief 
of  emigrants  not  afflicted  with  any  contagious  disease,  and  they 
had  to  apply  to  the  Almshouse  authorities  for  admission  to  their 
medical  institutions. 

The  whole  government  and  property  of  the  Quarantine  hospi-  insufficiency  of 
tals  was  transferred  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  immedi 
ately  after  the  constitution  of  the  Board.  But,  owing  to  the  want 
of  other  buildings,  they  were  at  first  obliged  to  send  all  their 
patients  to  Staten  Island.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  hospitals 
there  were  filled  to  excess,  while,  in  spite  of  every  precaution, 
crowds  of  sick,  suffering  under  milder  or  non-contagious  diseases, 
or  requiring  only  surgical  aid,  were  exposed  to  ship-fever,  small-' 
pox,  yellow-fever,  or  cholera.  These  difficulties  continued  until 
April  11,  1849,  when  the  Marine  Hospital  was  formally  restricted 
to  the  reception  of  contagious  diseases.  After  this  step,  the  Com 
missioners  considered  it  their  first  duty  to  provide  for  and  furnish 
hospital  accommodations  for  those  who  suffered  from  other  than 
contagious  diseases,  and  a  refuge  for  those  who  were  destitute. 

In  1847,  the  pressure  for  increased  accommodations  became  P,.essnre  in  1847< 
very  great.     Thousands  of  sick  emigrants  arrived  in  the  summer   |  o 
of  that  year,  the  greater  portion  of  whom  were  the  victims  of  the 
Irish  famine,  and  had  to  be  provided  for  at  once,  and  as  well  as 
possible.     Several  hundreds  of  them  were  sent  to  private  hospi 
tals,  such  as  Dr.  Williams's  and  Dr.  "Wilson's,  others  to  the  New 


126  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

York  City  hospitals,  and  still  others  to  the  Almshouse.  The  con 
valescent  were  nursed  at  the  public-stores  on  Staten  Island,  the 
use  of  which  had  been  granted  by  the  United  States  Government 
for  a  limited  period.  Others,  as,  for  instance,  the  passengers  of 
the  cholera-ship,  the  New  York,  from  Havre,  were,  by  permission 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  sent  to  Bedloe's  Island,  w^here  temporary 
hospitals  had  been  erected  for  their  accommodation.  These  tem 
porary  measures,  however,  were  wholly  inadequate  to  the  many 
wrants  and  necessities  of  the  emigrant ;  and  the  Commissioners 
speedily  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  in  order  to  save  expenses 
and  provide  sufficient  accommodation  for  all  their  sick,  they  would 
have  to  build  their  own  hospitals  and  places  of  refuge. 

cwa°r<r°  island  Ward?8  Island  was  the  spot  which  they  selected  for  the 
£stitutToSs.ant  location  of  these  establishments.  A  better  choice  could  not 
have  been  made.  This  island,  which  consists  of  about  200  acres, 
and  has  the  shape  of  an  irregular  square,  is  situated  in  the  East 
River,  north  of  Blackwell's  and  south  of  Randall's  Islands,  and 
extends  opposite  to  the  city  from  about  One  Hundredth  Street  to 
One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Street.  Its  proximity  to  the  city,  and 
its  accessibility  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  its  exemption  from  the 
inconveniences  and  annoyances  of  a  thickly  settled  neighborhood, 
together  with  the  facilities  it  afforded  of  acquiring  land  of  suffi 
cient  extent  to  meet  possible  future  needs  at  a  much  more  reason 
able  rate  than  could  be  obtained  elsewhere,  under  equally  favor 
able  conditions  of  location,  these  several  advantages  induced  that 
selection.  The  Commissioners  have  not  been  disappointed  in  the 
result,  now  that  the  demands  upon  the  island  have  reached  to  a 
magnitude  much  beyond  their  anticipation.  As  early  as  June  4, 

1847,  they  tried  to  buy  a  tract  of  about  8  acres  of  land,  with 
an  old  stone  building  originally  built  for  a  factory,  for  the  accom 
modation  of  the  increasing  number  of  their  sick,  but  they  could 
only  obtain  a  lease  of  the  ground.     On  July  14,  1847,  the  Com 
missioners   resolved  to  erect   a   two-story   shed,    200   feet  long 
and  22  feet  wide,  for  the  accommodation  of  those  who  could 
not  find  employment  and  had  not  the  strength  to  work.     Early 

ryescted0i8pii8t.al  in   I848,  tney  determined  to   build  a  hospital,  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  building  used  as  a  refuge.      On  November  1, 

1848,  it  was  finished  and  occupied.     The  structure  was  of  wood, 


WARD'S  ISLAND.  127 

filled  in  with  brick,  having  a  frontage  of  119  feet,  and  two  wings, 
running  east  and  west,  of  40  feet  long  by  25  feet  wide.  It  con 
tained,  besides  apartments  for  physicians,  apothecary,  and  nurses, 
and  the  apothecary's  shop,  eleven  large  rooms  for  patients,  each  of 
the  dimensions  of  40  feet  by  25,  and  affording  accommodations  for 
250  beds. 

While  this  hospital  was  in  the  course  of  construction,  the 
Board  became  satisfied  that  still  more  ample  accommodations  would 
soon  be  needed,  and  that  more  especially  a  proper  establishment 
for  children  was  imperatively  demanded.  They,  therefore,  de 
termined  to  erect  a  nursery  building,  to  contain,  besides  dormi 
tories  and  play-room,  a  school-room  and  chapel.  By  the  end  of 
1848  this  building  was  finished  and  partly  occupied. 

As  it  became  essential  to  have  more  ground  than,  under  the 
lease,  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Commissioners,  and  as  several 
lots  or  parcels  of  land  on  Ward's  Island  happened  to  be  for  sale, 
it  was  resolved  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity.  Accord 
ingly,  in  the  month  of  July,  1848,  12  acres  and  22  perches  were 
purchased  for  $12,289  38.  These  purchases  were  continued  from 
time  to  time,  so  that  by  the  end  of  1849  the  Commissioners 
owned  95  acres  3  roods  and  6  perches,  for  which  they  had  alto 
gether  paid  the  comparatively  small  sum  of  §63,818  83.  In  1858,  Purchases  ot 
they  held  in  fee  simple  106  acres,  with  appurtenant  water-rights 
and  marsh.  In  1864,  they  bought  a  piece  of  land  for  $7,200, 
containing  2  acres  and  22  perches,  lying  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Ward's  Island,  quite  separate  from  their  other  lands,  but  very  de 
sirable  and  even  indispensable  for  a  landing-place  on  the  eastern 
or  the  Sound  side  of  the  island,  and  well  adapted  for  hospital  pur 
poses  when  required.  Finally,  in  1868,  the  Commissioners  pur 
chased  a  tract  of  about  11  acres  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the 
island  for  $50,000,  so  that  they  now  hold  more  than  one-half  of  the 
island,  or  about  121  acres,  for  which  they  have  paid  $140,930  62, 
including  the  whole  of  the  water  front  which  faces  New  York 
City.  The  remaining  portion  is  chiefly  owned  by  the  Commis 
sioners  of  Public  'Charities  and  Correction,  a  local  board  exercis 
ing  the  functions  of  the  poor  officers  of  the  county. 

Much,  of  course,  has  been  done  during  the  last  twenty-two  improvements. 
years  for  the  improvement  of  the  island.    Temporary  and  wooden 


128  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

buildings  have  been  replaced  by  substantial  brick  structures, 
sewers  have  been  built,  walks  laid  out,  sea-walls  erected,  and  not 
a  single  year  has  passed  in  which  the  Commissioners  have  not 
spent  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  for  the  bene 
fit  and  succor  of  those  who  are  entrusted  to  their  care.  It  would 
be  tedious  and  tiresome  to  narrate  the  history  of  each  improve 
ment  suggested  and  carried  out  for  the  amelioration  of  their 
condition.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  give  a  description  of  the  build 
ings  and  institutions  at  present  comprised  in  the  establishment 
on  Ward's  Island.  Before  doing  so,  however,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  state,  in  a  few  words,  the  history  of  the  connection  of  the 
Marine  Hospital  on  Staten  Island  with  the  other  establishments 
of  the  Commissioners,  which  connection  existed  for  just  sixteen 
years,  that  is,  from  May  5,  1847,  to  April  29,  1863. 

CMar(ine0Ho8p0i-       "When  the  Commission  was  organized  in  1847",  it  had  no  lands, 
ta" 


with  nor  buildings,  nor  means.     Hence  it  was  a  wrise  policy  to  commit 

Ward's  Island  ,  i        s\  •  T  -i    !  •      i 

establishment,  to  its  charge  the  (Quarantine  grounds  and  hospitals,  even  saddled 
with  the  condition  that  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  had  to 
receive  and  gratuitously  nurse  non-emigrants,  such  as  sailors  and 
sick  citizens.  In  this  way,  the  indispensable  means  were  at  once 
provided  for  receiving  and  caring  for  arriving  immigrants,  who 
were  affected  with  various  contagious  and  infectious  diseases,  among 
which  cholera,  small-pox,  and  ship-fever  were  widely  prevalent. 
The  number  of  sick  was  appalling.  In  the  first  eight  years  of  the 
Commission,  nearly  50,000  were  treated  within  these  hospitals. 
Since  that  time,  large  hospitals  on  Ward's  Island  have  been 
erected,  owing  to  which  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  immigrants 
has  greatly  improved.  Accommodations  for  all  emigrants  not 
affected  with  infectious  diseases  being  afforded  on  Ward's  Island, 
the  reasons  for  placing  the  Marine  Hospital  in  the  charge  of  the 
Commissioners  ceased  to  exist.  There  was,  in  addition,  other 
strong  and  positive  ground  for  a  change ;  it  w^as  unjust  to  those 
from  whom  the  emigrant  fund  is  collected  to  make  that  fund  to 
contribute  towards  the  support  of  the  Quarantine  and  the  main 
tenance  of  the  health  laws.  In  years  in  which  the  means  of  the 
Commissioners  were  seriously  diminished  by  a  decrease  of  immigra 
tion,  it  was  hardly  possible  for  them  to  maintain  those  who  paid 
the  commutation  money.  Nevertheless,  the  Commissioners  were 


WARD'S  ISLAND.  129 

expected  to  bear  the  cost  of  supporting  all  who  suffered  from  in 
fectious  diseases.  This  injustice  was  only  repaired  by  the  act  of 
April  29,  1863,  which  created  a  Boar.d  of  Quarantine  Commis 
sioners.  Since  that  time,  the  cases  of  contagious  fever  amongst 
emigrants  have  been  sent  to  Ward's  Island,  where  the  former 
surgical  and  isolated  wards  are  devoted  to  their  reception,  while 
the  small-pox  patients,  chargeable  to  the  Commissioners,  by  an 
arrangement  with  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Charities,  have 

O  ' 

been  received  at  the  Small-pox  Hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island,  and 
regularly  paid  for  at  a  rate  agreed  upon  between  both  Commis 
sions. 

Another  injustice  which  the  State  perpetrated   against  the  stta'e 
Commissioners  of  Emigration  is  the  following :  On  September    8ionera- 
1  and  2, 1858,  a  furious  mob  had  violently  attacked  and  destroyed 
all  the  buildings  and  hospitals  on  the  Quarantine  grounds.     The 
loss  of  property  amounted  to  several  hundred  thousands  of  dollars. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  assess  the  damages,  which  awarded  Award  to  coin- 
to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  for  the  destruction  of  their   account  of 

7  Quarantine 

personal  property  at  the  Marine  Hospital,  the  sum  of  fourteen  tootother'epu^ 
thousand  dollars,  payable  in  bonds,  and  issued  to  them  by  the  l 
Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Richmond.  Of  the  sum  thus  raised, 
the  whole  was  expended  for  strictly  Quarantine  purposes,  ex 
cept  a  small  balance  of  about  $500.  An  additional  sum  of 
§107,521  was  also  awarded  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigra 
tion  for  the  destruction  of  their  buildings,  houses,  and  hospitals, 
but  the  Supervisors  of  Richmond  County,  claiming  that  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration  were  merely  trustees  for  the  people 
of  the  State,  refused  to  issue  or  deliver  them  to  the  Commis 
sioners,  and  deposited  them  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  State. 

Application  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Commissioners  for  a 
mandamus  to  compel  the  Supervisors  of  Richmond  County  to  issue 
these  bonds  to  them,  in  accordance  with  the  award  under  the 
act.  It  was,  however,  held  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  that,  inas 
much  as  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  were  trustees  of  the 
people  of  the  State,  a  delivery  of  the  bonds  to  the  people  was  a 
substantial  compliance  with  the  law.  In  other  words,  the  judg 
ment  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  substantially  made  the  State  a 
present  of  more  than  $100,000  of  the  funds  of  the  poor  emigrant. 


130  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

An  application  to  the  Legislature  for  the  transfer  of  these  bonds  to 
the  Commissioners  proved  equally  futile.  "  If,  however,"  says  the 
Report  of  the  Commissioners  for  1804,  "  for  any  reason  these  bonds 
should  be  retained  by  the  State,  then  it  is  most  respectfully  sub 
mitted  that,  as  they  are  given  as  compensation  for  destruction  of 
buildings,  etc.,  erected  at  various  periods  from  funds  contributed  by 
alien  emigrants,  for  whom  the  Commissioners  are  the  agents  and 
trustees,  or  from  moneys  borrowed  on  mortgage  for  and  applied 
to  those  buildings  and  improvements  for  which  these  bonds  were 
given,  they  should  be  regarded  as  the  proper  fund  to  pay  off  the 
encumbrances  on  the  property  of  the  Commission,  without 
demanding  payment  of  any  portion  of  it  from  the  Emigrant  Fund." 
Since  that  time  these  bonds  have  been  applied  to  the  payment  of 
expenses  incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  new  Quarantine  Station 
and  buildings  on  the  West  Bank,  and  the  Commissioners  have  in 
consequence  received  no  advantage  whatever  from  the  award. 

Another  illustration  of  the  arbitrary  way  in  which  the  State 
of  New  York  disposes  of  the  emigrant  funds  is  the  following : 
unjust  debt  As  above  stated,  the  act  was  passed  on  April  29,  1S63, 
^rsnVorSsp°aJ--  establishing  the  new  Quarantine  Board,  and  directing  the  Coin- 
fstntonf  InorE  missioners  of  Emigration  to  convey  to  the  State  all  the  right,  title, 
r^Ho^pitaif"  and  interest  which  they  had  in  the  real  estate  on  Staten  Island. 
This  property  was  subject  to  a  mortgage  of  $200,000,  covering 
the  former  Marine  Hospital  lands,  with  all  the  Ward's  Island  pro 
perty  held  by  the  Commissioners.  The  debt  was  contracted  at 
various  times,  and  the  mortgage  given  with  the  express  consent 
of  the  Governor,  Attorney-General,  and  Comptroller,  as  required 
by  law,  during  the  administration  of  Governors  Fish,  Hunt,  and 
Morgan.  The  loan  was  obtained  upon  the  credit  of  the  estimated 
value  of  the  Quarantine  property.  The  Commissioners  thought 
that,  if  they  contributed  $50,000  towards  the  payment  of  the  mort 
gage,  it  would  be  fully  as  much  as  the  relative  value  of  the  two 
pieces  of  property,  the  equity  of  the  mode  of  raising,  and  the  appli 
cation  of  the  fund  from  alien  emigrants  would  justify.  As  this  sum 
was  recommended  by  the  Comptroller  in  a  report  to  the  Legisla 
ture,  and  had  been  formerly  approved  in  an  act  passed  in  1867, 
the  Commissioners  assented  to  this  division  of  the  debt.  In 
1868,  this  property  was  sold,  but  the  mortgage  had  not  been 


ISLAND.  131 

paid  off,  and  the  amount  realized  from  the  sale  was  directed  to  be 
applied  towards  the  erection  of  the  new  Quarantine  structure  on 
the  West  Bank.  Thus,  since  1858,  although  the  Commission  has 
received  no  benefit  from  the  lands  on  Staten  Island,  and  although, 
since  the  appointment  of  the  Quarantine  Commission,  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration  have  been  relieved  of  the  duties  which 
formerly  devolved  upon  them,  yet  they  have  been  called  upon 
during  the  past  eleven  years  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  whole 
$200,000,  of  which  $150,000  was  debt  incurred  in  support  of. 
the  Marine  Hospital,  and  acknowledged  as  such  by  the  Legisla 
ture.  All  applications  to  the  latter  for  the  refunding  of  the  inter 
est  thus  paid,  amounting  to  $115,000,  by  the  State  to  the  Com  mis 
sioners  of  Emigration,  so  that  the  emigrant  money  maybe  applied 
to  its  legitimate  purpose,  have  thus  far  proved  of  no  avail,  and  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  although  desirous  of  getting  rid  of 
the  debt  unjustly  saddled  on  them,  are  magnanimously  allowed  to 
continue  to  pay  the  yearly  interest  on  $150,000,  with  money 
diverted  from  its  original  object  for  the  benefit  of  American 
citizens. 

To  return,  however,  to  "Ward's  Island,  where,  since  1863,  allBuiidiners  ou 

/  Ward's  Island. 

the  hospitals  and  refuges  of  the  Commissioners  are  concentrated. 
We  shall  first  give  a  brief  description  of  the  different  buildings 
erected  there  in  the  course  of  years  by  the  Commissioners  for  the 
use  of  the  emigrants  and  the  several  employees.  These  buildings 


The  New  Hospital. — This  is  the  chief  building  of  interest  on  verpianck  HOS- 
the  island,  it  having  been  constructed  upon  the  most  approved  l 
plans  for  perfect  ventilation  and  all  necessary  comforts  for  the  sick. 
It  consists  of  a  long  corridor,  450  feet  in  length  and  2  stories  in 
height,  from  which  project  5  wings,  each  130  feet  long  and  25 
feet  wide,  and  2  stories  high,  except  the  centre  wing,  which  has 
3  stories.  It  is  used  exclusively  for  non-contagious  diseases  and 
surgical  cases.  The  corridor  affords  ample  room  for  exercise  for 
convalescent  patients,  as  well  as  a  connection  for  the  separate 
wings.  The  corners  of  each  wing  are  flanked  with  towers,  which 
have  upon  their  tops  tanks  for  water ;  below  and  attached  to  each 
ward  are  bath-rooms  and  water-closets.  The  rooms  are  heated  by 


132  WAKD'S  ISLAND. 

hot  air,  which  is  forced  through  registers  by  a  large  fan-wheel. 
The  same  power  is  used  in  the  summer  to  secure  a  current  of  cool 
air  through  the  wards.  Projecting  from  the  corridor  in  an  opposite 
direction  from  the  wings  is  a  fire-proof  building,  which  contains 
the  boilers,  three  in  number,  the  engines,  etc.  The  cook-room, 
with  18  steam-kettles  and  ranges,  where  the  cooking  for  the  entire 
island  is  done,  and  above  this  the  bakery,  with  4  ovens,  of  a  capa 
city  each  of  300  loaves  of  bread ;  also  the  washing-room,  with 
machinery  for  washing  and  wringing  the  clothing,  and  63  wash- 
tubs.  On  the  upper  floor  are  the  drying  and  ironing  rooms. 
The  building  also  contains  a  basement-room  for  storing  flour, 
vaults  for  coal,  and  dummies  for  hoisting  purposes.  The  hospital 
proper  has  accommodation  for  about  350  patients.  The  rooms 
are  ventilated  by  pipes  connected  writh  the  main  chimney,  into 
which  the  steam  is  exhausted,  thus  forming  a  perfect  and  powerful 
draught.  The  basement  is  used  for  storage,  and,  in  cases  of 
emergency,  as  sleeping  quarters  for  inmates  of  the  Refuge. 

sursery.  The  Nursery. — The  home  of  the  children,  to  the  right  of  the 

new  hospital,  is  a  frame  building,  three  stories  and  basement, 
with  Mansard  roof,  120x190  feet.  The  basement  contains  the 
dining-room,  play-room,  and  bath-room;  the  first  floor,  the 
matron's  rooms  and  sleeping-rooms;  the  second  floor,  sleeping- 
rooms,  also  the  school-room  and  recitation-rooms ;  the  third  floor 
is  mostly  occupied  by  the  Catholic  Chapel  and  ante-rooms 
attached.  This  building  was  completed  only  in  1868,  having 
been  thoroughly  renovated  and  a  new  roof  put  on.  The  school  is 
conducted  by  teachers  from  the  city,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
.Board  of  Education,  and  has  every  convenience  for  the  comfort 
of  the  scholars.  The  chapel  is  a  neat  and  commodious  room,  and 
will  seat  comfortably  about  500  persons. 

.Refuge.  ^Refuge  Building. — This  is  a  brick  building,  three  stories  and 

basement,  with  three  wings,  total  size  100  feet  by  98  feet.  It  is 
used  as  follows :  Basement,  for  wash  and  bath  rooms,  and  storage 
for  blankets,  bedding,  and  heavy  groceries ;  first  floor,  for  stew 
ard's  department,  with  store  for  island  supplies,  matron's  rooms, 
cutting-rooms,  also  sleeping-rooms.  The  second  and  third  floors 


GROUND  PLAN  OF  THE  "  VERPLJ 


IR,  IE  :F:E 

A— WARDS. 
C—NURSES'  ROOMS. 
E— LINEN    ROOMS. 
G— SANATORIUMS. 

I— WATER  ( 

The  lower  floor  of  the  right-hand  Pavilion  is  appropriated  for  Co 

Vault  for  the  Re 


L 


... 


!K  "  STATE  EMIGRANT  HOSPITAL. 

I]  IN"  O  IE  S  : 

B— DINING   ROOMS. 

D— SCULLERIES. 

F— HALLS. 

H—BATH  AND  SINK   ROOMS. 
iET   ROOMS. 

<•"  Rooms,  the  Superintendent's  and  Distribution  Offiees,  und  a  Fire-proof 
of  the  Institutions. 


n 


Ll 


r 

— i 


E 


ISLAND.  133 

are  used  entirely  as  sleeping-rooms.  It  is,  as  its  name  indicates, 
a  refuge  for  destitute  immigrants,  chiefly  women  and  children, 
and  will  accommodate  450  persons. 

New  Barracks. — This  is  a  plain  brick  building,  three  stories  New  Barra<*8- 
and  basement,  size  160x44  feet,  with  projection  in  the  rear  for 
boiler-rooms,  bath-rooms,  etc.  It  is  devoted  entirely  to  destitute 
male  emigrants.  The  basement  is  used  for  exercise  and  protec 
tion  in  cold  weather ;  the  three  upper  floors  for  sleeping-rooms. 
Each  floor  is  supplied  with  water-closets,  bath-rooms,  etc.,  and  the 
building  is  heated  with  steam.  It  will  accommodate  450  per 
sons. 

Dispensary  Building. — This  building  is  of  the  same  size  and  Dl8pensary. 
appearance  as  the  Nursery  building,  and,  like  it,  was,  in  1868, 
completely  and  thoroughly  repaired.  The  basement  is  used  for 
storage,  kitchen,  etc. ;  the  first  floor  for  the  dispensary,  apothe 
cary,  and  clerks'  apartments,  dining-room  for  officers,  and  wash 
and  bath  rooms ;  the  upper  floors  furnish  sleeping-apartments  for 
officers,  also  wards  for  males  with  chronic  diseases.  The  capacity 
of  the  building  is  250  patients. 

New  Dining  Hall. — This  was  formerly  two  stories  high, Diniug  HaIL 
25  x  125  feet.  It  was  enlarged  in  1868  by  the  addition  of  another 
building  of  the  same  size,  connected  with  the  old  room  by  arches, 
thus  giving  four  rooms  of  a  total  capacity  of  10,000  square  feet. 
This  is  used  as  a  dining-room  for  the  inmates  of  the  Refuge,  and 
will  comfortably  seat  1,200  people. 

Fever -Wards  for  Males. — These  are  in  four  brick  buildings,  M^dgFevep- 
one   story  and  basement,  each   25x150   feet,  with  bath-rooms, 
kitchens,  etc.,  attached.     They  have  each  a  capacity  of  forty-five 
patients. 

Surgical  Wards  for  Males.  —  This   is   a   three-story  brick  Mw!<irds!urgical 
building,  25  x  125  feet,  and  is  used  for  male  surgical  cases.     It 
has  a  capacity  of  120  patients. 


Protestant  Chapel  Building. — Is  a  two-story  brick  building,   pei. 


Protestant  Clia- 


134  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

25  x  125  feet.  The  first  floor  is  used  as  medical  ward  for  women  ; 
the  upper  floor  is  a  Protestant  chapel  and  reading-room.  The 
chapel,  in  general  design  and  finish,  is  like  the  Catholic  chapel. 
The  reading-room  is  furnished  with  a  large  number  of  periodicals 
and  papers.  The  first  floor  will  accommodate  forty-five  patients. 

Boys'  Barrack..  ^he  Boy£  Barrack. — A  two-story  building,  will  accommo 
date  eighty  persons ;  size  25  x  125  feet. 

FfvSrdse  Fever  Fever -Wards  for  Females. — A  three-story  brick  building, 
35  x  125  feet ;  will  accommodate  120  patients. 

Lunatic  Asylum.  Lunatic  Asylum. — Is  a  three-story  and  basement  brick  build 
ing,  25  x  125  feet  in  size.  The  basement  is  divided  into  close 
rooms  for  men  or  women,  while  the  upper  rooms  are  sleeping- 
apartments  for  both  sexes ;  on  each  side  are  yards  for  the  exercise 
of  patients.  This  building  will  accommodate  125  persons.  It 
is,  however,  not  adapted  to  the  proper  treatment  of  lunatics,  and 
will  be  replaced  by  one  suited  to  the  purpose. 


resi-  Physician^  Residences.  —  Three  in  number,  built  together, 
and  completed  in  1868;  are  substantial  brick  houses  ;  total  size, 
65  x  45  feet  ;  three  stories  and  basement. 

8  Seat's  house11"  Superintendents  House.  —  Three  stories  and  basement,  brick, 
64  x  75  feet.  The  two  large  and  spacious  parlors  on  both  sides  of 
the  hall  serve  as  reception  and  dining  rooms  for  the  Commis 
sioners  and  their  guests,  while  the  upper  part  of  the  building  is 
occupied  by  the  Superintendent.  Just  opposite  is  the 

Dt1eunJkSeunet  i>ns  Deputy  Superintendents  House.  —  Two  stories  and  basement, 
frame,  27x44  feet  ;  was  thoroughly  repaired  in  1868. 

store-House,  Store-House  on  Dock.  —  Frame  building,  one  story,  28x85 

feet  ;  used  for  storage. 

Boat-House.  Boat-House  on  the  Dock.  —  Frame  building,  20  x  30  feet. 

stable.  Stable.  —  A  new  stable  was  built  in  1869,  large  enough  to 


WARD'S  ISLAND.  135 

accommodate  all  the  live  stock  required  for  the  uses  of  the  insti 
tution  ;  also  a  new  building  for  containing 

Workshops,  for  the  various   branches  of  labor  used  on  the  workshops, 
island.     Both  of  these  buildings  are  constructed  neatly  and  sub 
stantially  of  brick. 

The  minor  buildings  consist  of  ice-house,  dead-house,  fowl- 
house,  lumber-shed,  tool-house,  and  gardener's  house. 

Ward's  Island  is  reached  from  the  foot  of  One  Hundred 
Tenth  Street,  by  taking  passage  on  a  row-boat  of  the  Commissioners, 
running  to  and  from  that  point,  or  by  a  steamboat  chartered  by 
them,  which  leaves  Castle  Garden  every  day  at  one  o'clock  P.M.  A 
sick  or  destitute  emigrant  who  desires  to  go  to  the  island  has  to 
apply  at  the  Ward's  Island  Department  at  Castle  Garden.  After 
an  examination  has  established  his  title  to  the  privileges  of  the 
island,  he  receives  a  permit,  which  contains  his  name,  age, 
nativity,  date  of  arrival  in  this  country,  the  name  of  the  vessel, 
and  the  cause  of  application,  which  permit  is  delivered  on  land 
ing  and  kept  on  record  by  the  proper  officer.-  Upon  reaching  the 
island,  all  the  new-comers  are  brought  to  the  reception  office^ 
where  they  have  to  pass  a  medical  examination,  which  serves  to 
determine  whether  they  are  to  be  sent  to  the  Refuge  or  to  the 
Hospital.  After  this  examination  and  a  thorough  washing  and 
cleaning,  which  in  most  cases  is  indispensable,  they  are  admitted 
in  the  proper  place. 

The  Ward's  Island  Institution  is  divided  into  the  Refuge  and 
Hospital  Department,  the  general  care  of  which  is  entrusted  to  a  L3landf 
standing  committee  of  six  members  of  the  Board,  appointed  annu 
ally  by  the  President.  The  charge  of  the  various  departments 
devolves  upon  the  Superintendent,  under  the  general  supervision 
of  this  committee.  It  is,  however,  hardly  possible  to  separate 
one  department  from  the  other.  The  relations  between  them  are 
so  intimate,  that  the  institution,  although  actually  divided  into 
two  departments,  appears  and  works  as  an  integral  whole. 

The  Refuge  Department,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Refuse  Depart- 
the   Superintendent,  has  charge   of  all  cases  of  destitution,  in- 


A  d  minis! ration 
of   Ward's 


136  WAKD'S  ISLAND. 

eluding  those  newly  arrived  emigrants  who,  though  in  a  healthy 
condition,  are  prevented  from  proceeding  on  their  travels  from 
want  of  funds  or  other  causes.  The  inmates  of  this  department 
perform  a  considerable  amount  of  labor  for  the  benefit  of  the 
institution,  such  as  farming,  grading,  building  stone  walls,  etc., 
etc.  This  department  includes  also  those  persons  who  from  age 
or  disease  are  infirm  and  incapacitated  for  labor ;  and,  moreover, 
affords  a  refuge  for  all  those  persons  discharged  from  the  hospital 
who  have  no  home  or  cannot  obtain  employment.  A  large 
number  of  persons  of  these  different  classes  are  constantly  pro 
vided  for  during  the  winter  season. 

The  buildings  embracing .  the  Refuge  .  Department  are  plain 
but  substantial,  and  well  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  they 
are  designed.  Every  possible  provision  is  made  for  health  and 
comfort.  One  of  the  buildings  shelters  the  male  sex,  another 
the  women  and  children.  For  nursing  women  and  children 
without  parents  or  protection,  there  is  the  nursery,  in  charge  of 
a  matron.  It  contains  a  school-room,  where  all  newly  arrived 
emigrant  children  at  once  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  the 
English  language.  Boys  from  ten  to  fourteen  years  of  age 
occupy  their  own  quarters,  and  are  employed  on  light,  out-of-door 
labor. 

supcrinten-  In  addition  to  the  care  of  the  Refuge  Department,  the  Super 
intendent  has  charge  of  the  entire  property  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Emigration,  and  co-operates  with  the  Medical  Board  in  carrying 
out  all  measures  affecting  the  well-being  of  the  inmates ;  orders 
the  supplies  for  the  island, '  and  is  the  chief  executive  offi 
cer  to  whom  the  heads  of  all  the  departments  are  obliged  to  report. 
As  his  duties  are  of  a  weighty  responsibility  and  onerous,  it 
requires  not  only  talent  and  ability,  but  also  a  considerable  expe 
rience  to  perform  them. 

Medical  admin-       The  medical  administration  of  "Ward's  Island  from  the  year 

istration— its 

changes.  1847  up  to  the  present  time  has  experienced  various  changes  until 
it  assumed  its  present  form,  which  experience  has  proved; the 
most  efficient.  When  the  service  was  first  organized  on  Ward's 
Island,  the  office  of  Superintendent  and  Physician  was  united  in 
one  person.  Dr.  John  Snowden,  who  first  occupied  this  position, 
a  few  months  after  his  appointment  fell  a  victim  to  his  untiring 


"WARD'S  ISLAND.  137 

devotion  to  the  sick  under  his  care.  On  April  19,  1848,  Dr.  E. 
Greene  was  appointed  his  successor.  The  largely  increased  hospi 
tal  service,  however,  soon  demanded  the  exclusive  attention  of  a 
physician-in-chief,  devoted  solely  to  that  duty.  The  former  office 
of  Superintendent  and  Physician  was  therefore  divided.  Dr. 
Theodore  A.  Tellkampf,  in  May,  1849,  was  appointed  to  the  chief 
medical  office,  while  Dr.  Greene  remained  Superintendent  of  the 
Refuge  Department,  subordinate  to  the  Physician-in- Chief  in  all 
matters  respecting  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  condition  of  the 
institution,  as  well  as  the  economical  affairs  of  the  Hospital 
Department. 

The  institution  was  in  a  very  bad  condition,  when,  on  June 
6,  1849,  Dr.  Tellkampf  took  charge  of  the  Hospital  Department. 
He  organized  it  with  the  efficient  aid  of  the  Ward's  Island  Com 
mittee,  within  a  comparatively  short  time.  Competent  physicians, 
the  majority  of  whom  had  been  already  assistant  physicians  or 
surgeons  in  other  hospitals,  were  appointed.  The  places  of 
incompetent  orderlies  and  nurses  wTere  filled  as  speedily  as  pos 
sible  by  others,  selected  carefully  from  among  the  inmates  of 
the  hospital  who  had  recovered.  In  order  to  secure  an  efficient 
corps  of  orderlies  and  nurses,  they  received  monthly  pay,  after 
having  been  trained  for  their  various  duties.  A  head  orderly  and 
a  matron  were  appointed. 

The  so-called  contract  system  was  abolished  with  great  diffi-  supplies, 
culty,  but  since  its  abolition  all  articles  requisite  for  the  Hospital, 
for  instance,  medicines,  meat,  milk,  vegetables,  etc.,  have  been  of 
the  best  quality.  The  wards  were  newly  furnished,  and  iron 
bedsteads  introduced.  A  hospital  kitchen  was  arranged ;  though 
deficient  in  some  respects,  an  experienced  cook  with  two  or  three 
assistants  managed  to  supply  all  the  patients — gradually  increas 
ing  from  600  to  about  1000— with  the  best  diet,  in  full,  half,  and 
quarter  rations,  as  ordered. 

The  Croton  water  was  introduced,  and  a  wash-house  built  and  croton  water, 
furnished  with  all  the  modern  improvements. 

The  various  departments  of  the  Hospital,  namely,  the  Medi 
cal,  Surgical,  the  Lying-in  Department,  and  the  Department  for 
Diseases  of  Children,  were  meanwhile  organized,  each  divided 
and  subdivided;  and  all  sick  immigrants — curable  as  well  as 


138  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

incurable  cases  —  were  admitted,  except  the  insane  and  those  suf 
fering  from  small-pox. 

Besides  the  more  usual  divisions,  others  were  arranged,  one  for 
patients  suffering  from  petechial  typhus  (ship-fever),  another  for 
cholera  patients  —  the  Asiatic  cholera  prevailing  at  that  time  — 
and  still  another  for  about  200  children  infected  with  prevalent 
ophthalmia.  In  order  to  prevent  the  spreading  of  this  contagious 
disease  beyond  the  institution,  the  children  were  discharged  from 
this  division  only  when  completely  cured.  A  temporary  building 
was  erected  for  post-mortem  examinations.  All  persons  on  their 
arrival  at  the  institution  were  examined  first  by  the  Physician- 
in-Chief,  and  subsequently  by  the  physician  du  jour,  and  those 
found  to  be  sick  were  sent  to  their  respective  wards,  after  having 
complied  (if  possible)  with  the  regulations  made  in  regard  to 
cleanliness,  dress,  etc. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  the  Physician-in-Chief,  who,  in  organiz 
ing  the  Hospital  Department,  had  the  direction  of  the  economical 
affairs  of  that  department  as  well  as  the  direction  and  supervision 
of  the  treatment  of  all  patients,  and  who  performed,  besides,  all 
surgical  and  obstetrical  operations,  except  such  as  he  could  entrust 
to  his  assistant-surgeons,  proposed  that  his  senior  assistants  should 
now  be  appointed  physicians,  §  to  have  charge  of  departments  or 
divisions,  subject  to  certain  regulations  and  restrictions,  and  that 
each  should  have  an  assistant.  This  proposition  was  approved  of 
by  the  Ward's  Island  Committee,  but  not  formally  acted  upon  by 
the  Board,  owing  to  the  occurrence  of  some  vacancies  (two  in 
the  Ward's  Island  Committee,  namely,  one  by  the  death  of  the 
Hon.  David  C.  Colden,  the  other  by  the  resignation  of  George  E. 
Earnhardt,  President  of  the  German  Society,  both  of  whom  had 
evinced  a  great  interest  in  the  organization  and  welfare  of  the  in 
stitution). 

Adoption  of  This  change  in  the  composition  of  the  Board  resulted  in  a  new 
course  of  action.  While  the  Physician-in-Chief  was  convalescent 
from  petechial  typhus,  from  which  disease  the  majority  of  his 
assistants,  one  after  the  other,  had  also  suffered,  the  Board  re 
solved  to  introduce  a  so-called  new  plan  —  in  fact,  the  old  English 
plan  —  according  to  which  visiting  physicians  and  surgeons  living 
from  six  to  eight  miles  from  the  island,  and  young  resident  phy- 


WARD'S  ISLAND.  139 

sicians,  were  appointed.  The  Physician-in-Chief,  after  having 
urged  in  vain  that  the  hospital  service  required  a  permanent  medical 
staff  residing  on  the  island,  and  that  the  contemplated  change,  for 
many  weighty  reasons,  was  objectionable,  and  sure  to  lead  to  most 
deplorable  results,  declined  the  position  offered  to  him  under  the 
new  system,  and  resigned. 

The  new  plan,  however,  was  carried  into  effect  by  the  appoint 
ment  of  eight  physicians  and  surgeons  as  visiting  physicians  to  the 
institution,  w^ho  formed  together  the  Medical  Board  of  Ward's 
Island. 

This  system  soon  proved  its  inefficiency,  but  was,  nevertheless,  inefficiency    of 
kept  up  until  1855,  when  the  Medical  Department  proper  was  again   jgjgjjj11*  h°? 


placed  under  the  charge  of  a  resident  physician-in-chief,  with  two  Us 
assistants,  and  the  Surgical  Department  under  the  charge  of  a  sur- 
geon-in-chief,  with  the  same  number  of  assistants.  This  system 
has  been  in  operation  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  writh  the  simple 
change  of  one  instead  of  two  assistants  in  each  department.  The 
general  supervision  is  exercised  by  the  Medical  Board,  consisting 
of  a  Consulting  Physician,  Physician-in-Chief,  and  Surgeon-in- 
Chief.  These  offices  are  now  filled  by  the  following  gentlemen  : 
Dr.  J.  Murray  Carnochan,  Surgeon-in-Chief  ;  Dr.  Ernst  Schilling, 
Consulting  Physician;  Dr.  George  Ford,  Physician-in-Chief;  Dr. 
August  e  Reimer,  Assistant  Physician  ;  and  Dr.  John  Dwyer,  As 
sistant  Surgeon  ;  the  three  latter  forming  the  resident  medical 
staff.  The  former  have  been  connected  with  the  institution  for  a 
Jong  series  of  years. 

The  regular  routine  business  of  the  Hospital  is  about  equally 
divided  among  the  resident  medical  staff.  A  number  of  wards 
constitute  the  department  of  one  physician  or  surgeon,  to  which 
Ms  labor  and  attendance  are  mainly  devoted.  The  Physician-in- 
Chief  has  the  general  supervision.  The  assistants  have  to  report 
to  and  to  consult  with  him,  and  to  carry  out  his  suggestions  or 
orders.  The  Medical  Board  meets  regularly  every  fortnight,  to  Medical  Board. 
consult  upon  all  matters  relating  to  the  Hospital  and  the  welfare 
of  its  inmates  ;  to  deliberate  upon  general  questions  of  health,  and 
such  suggestions  as  may  be  received  from  different  quarters  ;  to  con 
sider  and  decide  upon  changes  and  improvements,  and  to  discuss 
new  or  difficult  cases  in  practice.  A  record  is  kept  of  all  its 


140  WAKD'S  ISLAND. 

transactions  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Board.  The  Surgeon-in-Chief, 
however,  pays  regular  visits  to  the  island,  performs  all  necessary 
operations,  which  amount  to  a  considerable  number  annually,  and 
gives  all  directions  and  instructions  to  his  assistant. 

Hospital       tUSi-  mi          TT-  •  ,     T     •,        n  (*  •  ..,       i  T        -, 

ness.  Ine  Hospital  itself  is  visited  regularly  every  morning  by  the 

resident  medical  staff;  prescriptions  are  sent  to  the  apothecary, 
and  all  directions  regarding  the  diet  or  care  of  patients  given  to 
,  the  attending  nurses.  "Whenever  required,  two  or  more  daily 
visits  are  of  course  made  to  patients  by  the  attending  physician  or 
surgeon.  The  number  of  buildings,  their  isolation  and  peculiar 
structure,  allows  a  perfect  classification  of  all  kinds  of  diseases. 
Thus,  there  are  buildings  appropriated  to  contagious  diseases, 
while  others  contain  exclusively  non-contagious  maladies ;  a  means 
by  which  the  spreading  of  an  epidemic  is  not  only  prevented,  but 
the  chance  of  an  outbreak  lessened,  because  every  case,  as  soon  as 
detected,  is  immediately  sent  to  its  proper  place,  and  all  possible 
sanitary  precautions,  such  as  fumigation,  disinfection,  administered. 
For  the  same  purpose,  the  Refuge  Department  is  daily  in 
spected  and  examined  by  the  Assistant  Physician  for  the  detection 
of  any  case  of  sickness,  and  its  immediate  transfer  upon  discovery 
to  the  proper  medical  ward. 
Diseases  treated  All  kinds  of  diseases  are  treated  on  the  island,  with  the  excep- 

0:1  the  Island.  ' 

tion  only  of  small-pox  cases,  which,  as  stated  above,  are  sent  to 
the  Hospital  on  Blackwell's  Island,  erected  for  the  purpose  by  the 
Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  and  Correction. 

Lunatic Asyinm.  The  Lunatic  Asylum  on  "Ward's  Island  has  been  in  successful 
operation  since  1861,  but,  as  the  present  building  does  not  suffici 
ently  answer  the  purpose,  it  is  intended  to  replace  it  by  a  new  and 
appropriate  structure,  having  room  for  from  250  to  300  inmates. 

Number  Oi  pa-  To  show  the  importance  and  magnitude  of  the  institution,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  state,  that,  during  the  twenty-three  years  of 
its  existence,  207,862  inmates,  or  about  9,000  annually,  have  been 
treated  and  cared  for  at  an  average  cost  of  $1  85  each  per  week. 
The  labor  of  the  institutions  on  the  island  is  performed  by  88 
officers,  clerks,  nurses,  and  employees,  who  together  receive  a 
yearly  salary  of  $32,581. 

croton  water.  The  island  is  amply  supplied  with  Croton  water,  which  is  car 
ried  from  the  city  by  a  pipe  across  the  river  to  a  large  reservoir. 


WAKD'S  ISLAND.  141 

The  main  sewer,  but  lately  finished,  passes  from  north  to  south, 
and  has  largely  added  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  island,  as 
all  the  effluvia  are  washed  out  by  it,  and  immediately  carried  off 
into  the  river. 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

TCAPITAL  VALUE  OP  IMMIGRATION  TO  THIS  COUNTRY — ITS  INFLUENCE 

ON   THE   POPULATION  AND  THE  NATION'S  WEALTH IS    IMMIGRA 
TION  A  MATTER  OF  STATE  OR  NATIONAL  CONCERN  ? 

IT  is  a  common  mistake  of  statisticians  and  writers  on  political 
economy  to  limit  their  enquiries  to  the  amount  of  means  which 
immigrants  bring  with  them,  to  ascertain  the  aggregate  thereof, 
and  to  conclude  that  the  few  millions  thus  obtained  are  the  only 
addition  to  the  nation's  wealth. 

cash  means  of  In  1856,  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  in  New  York  ex- 
8>  amined  every  immigrant  as  to  the  amount  of  his  means,  and  the 
average  cash  of  each  of  the  142,342  new-comers  of  that  year 
amounted  to  $68.08.  The  Commissioners  afterward  discontinued 
this  examination,  for  the  reason  that,  in  spite  of  all  their  endeavors, 
they  could  not  obtain  correct  answers  on  the  part  of  the  immi 
grants,  who  were  suspicious  of  their  motives. 

Kennedy's  Be-  "  The  main  object,"  says  Superintendent  Kennedy,  in  his  re 
port  of  January  14, 1858,  "for  enquiring  of  passengers  the  amount 
of  cash  means  they  possessed,  was  secured,  when  it  was  shown  to 
the  public  that  on  the  average  they  were  in  possession  of  a  larger 
amount  of  such  means  than  is  held  by  the  localized  residents  of 
any  known  community ;  and  that,  although  a  part  of  the  immi 
gration  is  among  that  class  of  persons  who  seek  refuge  on  our 
shores,  and  subsistence  by  labor,  with  little  or  no  cash  means,  yet 
a  large  portion  bring  with  them  of  that  kind  of  property  a  suffi 
cient  quantity  to  sustain  themselves,  and  to  aid  in  the  enrichment 
of  the  country.  It  was  justly  apprehended  that  a  continuance  of 
the  investigation  might  lead  to  mischievous  results,  from  their 
manifest  inaccuracy.  For,  while  the  table  of  1856  presents  the 
average  amount  of  cash  means  at  $68  08  per  head,  subsequent 
but  reliable  information  showed  that  the  concealment  of  large 
amounts  had  been  constantly  and  successfully  practised ;  and 
that,  had  full  admission  been  made  of  the  funds  in  possession,  the 
average  would  have  been  at  least  double  the  amount  reported." 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  143 

I  was  myself  at  that  time  a  witness  of  the  unreliability  of  the  t'nreiiabie  state-  V 

v  •'  merits  of  emif 

statements  of  immigrants  concerning  their  means.  Eeing  present'  «rauts- 
when,  in  the  summer  of  1856,  the  passengers  of  a  German  ship 
were  examined  at  Castle  Garden,  I  observed  an  old  farmer  and 
his  three  adult  sons,  who,  in  answer  to  the  enquiry  of  the  Super 
intendent,  opened  their  pocket-books,  counted  the  contents  of 
each,  and  hesitatingly  declared  it  to  be  about  $25.  I  interposed, 
and  explained  to  these  people,  who  evidently  apprehended  that  / 
they  would  be  taxed  on  account  of  their  money,  the  reason  of  the 
interrogatories,  whereupon  the  old  farmer  showed  me  a  bill  of 
exchange  of  §2,700  on  a  J^ew  York  banker,  and  remarked  that 
each  of  his  sons  had  about  the  same  amount  with  him.  These 
men  had  been  entered  as  having  about  §100  together,  while  in 
fact  they  ought  to  have  been  credited  with  about  $11,000. 

"  German  immigrants  alone,"  says  a  report  of  the  Commission- 
ers  of  Emigration,  December  15,  1854,  on  the  subjects  in  dispute 
between  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  and  the  Almshouse 
Department  of  the  city  of  ^Tew  York,  "  have  for  the  past  three 
years,  as  estimated  by  the  best  German  authorities,  brought  into 
the  country  annually  an  average  of  about  eleven  millions  of  dol 
lars.  A  large  amount  of  money  in  proportion  to  numbers  is 
estimated  to  have  been  brought  from  Holland  and  other  countries. 
The  amount  of  money  thus  introduced  into  the  country  is  in 
calculable." 

These  estimates  are  corroborated  by  statements  which  I  hap-  statistical  facts 
pened  to  find  among  some  German  statistical  tables.  It  appears 
from  the  statistical  records  of  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden,  that 
from  1840  to  1849  the  ready  cash  which  each  emigrant  carried 
with  him  amounted  to  245  florins,  or  $98  gold.  Again,  of  the 
Bavarian  emigrants  between  1845-1851,  each  was  possessed  of 
233  florins,  or  $93  20  gold;  between  1851-1857,  each  of  236 
florins,  or  $94  40  gold ;  wThile  the  Brunswickers,  who  emigrated 
in  1853,  had  136  thalers,  or  about  $96  gold,  each.  The  Wiirtem- 
bergers,  in  1855,  carried  only  $76  gold  each  with  them ;  which 
sum  in  1856  increased  to  $134  gold,  in  1857  to  $145  gold,  and 
in  1858  even  to  $318  gold  per  head.  Other  official  data  con 
cerning  this  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain,  but  the  instances  just 
cited  throw  sufficient  light  on  the  subject. 


144  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

°Sfeermipgr°anet8!y  The  money,  however,  is  not  the  only  property  which  immi 
grants  bring  with  them.  In  addition  to  it,  they  have  a  certain 
amount  of  wearing  apparel,  tools,  watches,  books,  and  jewelry. 
Assuming  that  their  cash  amounts  to  only  §100  a  head,  I  do  not 
think  I  exaggerate  in  estimating  their  other  property  at  §50,  thus 
making  §150  the  total  of  the  personal  property  of  each  immigrant. 
The  total  arrivals  at  New  York  for  the  year  1869  were  258,989 
immigrants,  and  the  amount  added  to  the  national  wealth,  through 
this  port  alone,  in  one  year,  did  consequently  not  fall  short  of 
$38,848,350.  Large  as  this  sum  appears,  it  is  insignificant  in 
comparison  with  the  hundreds  of  millions  which  have  been,  and 
will  be,  produced  yearly  by  the  labor  of  immigrants.  And  here 
the  question  suggests  itself:  What  is  the  economic  value  of  each 
immigrant  to  the  country  of  his  adoption  ? 

Eof 3granatSe  We  are  perfectly  familiar  with  the  estimates  which,  during  the 
existence  of  slavery,  were  made  of  the  value  of  negroes.  A  good 
field  hand  was  considered  to  be  worth  §1,200  and  over ;  a  good 
cook  was  valued  higher ;  and  a  seamstress  or  housekeeper  was,  in 
some  cases,  held  at  even  §1,500  or  §2,000.  In  order  to  obtain  a 
proper  idea  of  the  importance  of  immigration  to  the  United 
States,  we  must  endeavor  to  capitalize,  so  to  speak,  the  addition 
to  the  natural  and  intellectual  resources  of  the  country  represented 
by  each  immigrant. 

Dtheory?gel>B  A  prominent  German  statistician,  Dr.  Engel,  of  Berlin,  Direc 
tor  of  the  Prussian  Statistical  Bureau,  in  an  able  treatise  on  the 
price  of  labor,  distinguishes  three  periods  in  the  economic  life  of 
each  man :  two  unproductive  and  one  productive  period.  The 
first  comprises  the  raising  and  education  of  the  individual,  and 
continues  until  he  reaches  his  fifteenth  year.  It  is,  of  course,  not 
only  unproductive,  but  causes  considerable  outlay.  The  second, 
extending  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  sixty-fifth  year,  is  the  produc 
tive  time  of  life.  The  third  comprises  the  unproductive  years  of 
old  age  after  sixty.  Dr.  Engel  calls  the  first  the  juvenile,  the 
second  the  labor,  and  the  third  the  aged  period. 

It  is  only  during  this  productive  period  that  man  is  able  to 
subsist  on  the  results  of  his  own  labor.  In  the  juvenile  period 
he  is  dependent  on  the  assistance  of  others,  and  in  the  aged  period 
he  has  to  live  upon  the  accumulated  fruits  of  the  productive  years. 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  145 

Whether  or  not  the  child  in  its  first  period  lives  at  the  expense 
of  his  parents,  there  must  be  means  for  its  maintenance  and  edu 
cation,  and  as  nature  does  not  spontaneously  furnish  these  means, 
and  as  they  cannot  be  provided  by  others  without  danger  of 
impoverishment  if  not  replaced,  they  must  be  obtained  by  labor. 
This  labor  is  performed  during  the  productive  period,  in  which 
the  following  three  objects  should  be  attained,  viz. :  1.  The  pay 
ment  of  the  expenses  incurred  for  the  support  and  education  of 
the  child  in  the  juvenile  period.  2.  The  satisfaction  of  the  daily 
wants,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  productive  power  of  the 
individual.  3.  The  laying  up  of  a  surplus  fund  for  his  sustenance 
during  the  aged  period.  Thus,  the  cost  of  the  bringing  up  and 
education  of  a  man  constitutes  a  specific  value,  wThich  benefits 
that  country  which  the  adult  individual  makes  the  field  of  his 
physical  and  intellectual  exertions.  This  value  is  represented 
by  the  outlay  which  is  necessary  to  produce  an  ordinary  laborer. 
An  immigrant,  therefore,  is  worth  just  as  much  to  this  country 
as  it  costs  to  produce  a  native-born  laborer  of  the  same  average 
ability. 

It  is  evident  that  the  capital  value  wrhich  a  grown-up,  able- 
bodied  immigrant  represents  is  different  according  to  his  station  in 
life  and  the  civilization  of  the  country  whence  he  comes.  The 
wants  of  a  skilled  and  unskilled  laborer  from  the  same  country 
differ  widely.  Those  of  the  Englishman  are  different  from  those 
of  the  Irishman.  The  German  must  be  measured  by  another 
standard  than  the  Mexican  or  South  American.  Their  mode  of 
life,  their  economical  habits  and  practical  pursuits,  have  little  in 
common ;  and  hence  the  benefit  to  the  country  of  their  adoption 
varies  according  to  their  respective  previous  relations.  It  is  cer 
tain,  however,  that  each  emigrant  brings,  independently  of  his 
personal  property,  a  certain  increase  of  wealth  to  this  country, 
which  increase  is  paid  by  the  country  from  which  he  comes,  and 
accordingly  must  be  credited  to  it. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  the  most  accurate  possible  estimate  of 
this  addition  of  wealth,  it  is  necessary  to  enquire  into  the  cost  of 
raising  and  educating,  in  this  country,  a  man  whose  means  of 
living  are  wholly  derived  from  his  physical  labor.  I  shall  not 
include  in  the  following  calculation  the  professional  man,  the 


14:6  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

scholar,  the  lawyer,  the  clergyman,  the  physician,  the  engineer, 
and  others,  who,  in  the  course  of  years,  have  likewise  come  here 
by  thousands,  and  added  to  the  productive  wealth  of  the  country 
in  proportion  to  the  greater  cost  of  their  education ;  but  I  shall 
confine  myself  to  the  class  named,  which  forms  the  great  ma 
jority  of  immigrants. 

f  raising  a  Dr.  Engel  computes  the  cost  of  raising  a  manual  laborer  in 
Germany  at  40  thalers  a  year  for  the  first  five  years  of  his  life; 
at  50  thalers  for  the  next  five  years ;  and  at  60  thalers  from  the 
eleventh  to  the  fifteenth  year,  thus  arriving  at  an  average  of  50 
thalers  per  year,  or  750  thalers  in  all.  From  my  knowledge  of 
German  life,  I  consider  this  estimate  as  correct  as  it  can  be ;  and, 
assuming  that  in  this  country  subsistence  costs  about  twice  as 
much  as  in  Germany,  I  do  not  think  I  shall  be  far  from  the  truth 
in  doubling  Engel's  estimates,  and  in  assuming  the  expense  of 
bringing  up  an  American  farmer  or  unskilled  laborer  for  the  first 
fifteen  years  of  his  life  to  average  100  thalers  per  year,  or  a  total 
of  1,500  thalers,  equal  to  about  $1,500  currency.  Following  Dr. 
Engel's  estimate,  an  American  girl  will  be  found  to  cost  only 
about  half  of  that,  or  $750,  for  the  reason  that  she  becomes  useful 
to  the  household  from  an  earlier  age.  Allowance  must  be  made, 
it  is  true,  for  the  fact  that  about  one-fifth  of  the  emigrants  are 
less  than  fifteen  years  old ;  but  this  is  fully  balanced  by  the  great 
preponderance  of  men  over  women,  and  by  thousands  who  repre 
sent  the  highest  order  of  skilled  labor.  Hence  I  feel  safe  in 
assuming  the  capital  value  of  each  male  and  female  emigrant  to 
be  $1,500  and  $750  respectively  for  every  person  of  either  sex, 
making  an  average  for  both  of  $1,125.  My  friend,  Mr.  Charles 
Reemelin,  one  of  the  most  prominent  American  political  econo 
mists,  confirmed  these  figures  in  a  very  able  address,  made  before 
the  German  Pioneer  Association  of  Cincinnati,  on  May  26,  1869, 
in  which  he  estimated  the  value  of  each  immigrant  who  had  come 
to  that  city  to  live  at  $1,500,  and  the  total  value  of  the  fifty 
thousand  emigrants  who  have  taken  up  their  residence  there  in 
the  last  forty  years  at  seventy-five  millions  of  dollars. 

increase  of  na-       The  number  of  emigrants  who  have  arrived  at  the  port  of 

b y^  bnSJra.  New  York  from  May  5,  1847,  to  January  1,  1870,  is  no  less  than 

4,297,980.     Adding  to  the  capital  value  of  $1,125  represented  by 


CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  147 

every  emigrant,  $150  per  head  for  the  average  value  of  personal 
property  brought,  as  I  have  shown,  by  each,  we  find  that  immi 
gration  increased '  the  national  wealth,  in  the  stated  period,  by 
more  than  five  billions  of  dollars,  or  more  than  twice  as  much  as 
the  present  amount  of  the  national  debt.  The  total  immigration 
into  the  United  States  being  now  at  the  rate  of  300,000  souls  per 
year,  the  country  gains  nearly  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars 
annually,  or  more  than  one  million  per  day. 

My  friend,  Mr.  Charles  L.  Brace,  in  a  very  able  commi-mica-Mt^0Jrace  a 
tion  which,  on  November  3, 1869,  he  addressed  to  the  New  York 
daily  Tribune,  has  taken  exceptions  to  these  statements  and  esti 
mates,  which  were  contained  in  a  paper  read  by  me  before  the 
American  Social  Science  Association. 

"  Mr.  Kapp,"  he  says,  "  deserves  high  commendation  for  the 
ingenuity  and  industry  he  has  shown  in  thus  analyzing  our  emi 
gration  statistics,  and  proving  the  economical  value  of  this  current 
of  population. 

"  But,  in  the  light  of  science,  we  are  compelled  to  point  out 
what  seem  to  us  omissions  in  these  economical  reasonings,  which 
will  somewhat  modify  the  results.  The  capital  value  of  an  object 
is  not  determined  merely  by  the  cost  of  its  production,  but  also 
by  another  element — the  demand  for  it.  Thus,  if  a  hundred  new 
sewing-machines  are  produced,  they  are  worth  to  the  community 
not  merely  what  they  cost  to  make,  but  what  the  demand  for 
them  will  bring.  If  there  has  been  an  overproduction  of  sewing- 
machines,  or  they  are  of  poor  quality,  their  worth  sinks,  and  their 
money  value  to  the  community  may  fall  below  the  cost  ot  manu 
facture.  The  same  is  true  of  all  articles  which  are  parts  of  the 
capital  of  a  country.  Their  money  value  or  price  is  conditioned 
by  cost  of  production  and  the  relation  of  demand  to  supply.  It 
is  true  also  of  animals.  A  cow  or  a  horse  is  worth  not  alone 
what  it  costs  to  produce  it,  but  what  the  demand  will  bring. 
Some,  from  adventitious  circumstances,  will  fall  below  the  cost  of 
production ;  some  will  rise  above  it.  Many  fine  horses,  which 
cost  no  more  to  raise  than  poor  ones,  are  worth  far  more  to  the 
country,  because  the  demand  for  them  is  greater,  while  many 
poor  ones  sink  below  their  cost,  because  the  demand  is  unreason 
ably  small.  So  with  human  beings,  if  we  look  at  them  purely  as 


148  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

instruments  of  production.  An  idiot  costs  as  much,  perhaps 
more,  to  raise  as  a  lad  of  ordinary  intelligence ;  but  he  is  of  no 
capital  value.  A  farmer's  boy,  whose  brain  has  worked  intensely 
as  he  broke  the  sod,  though  costing  no  more  in  education  than  a 
dull  clodhopper  in  the  next  house,  finds  himself  at  fifteen  worth 
double  the  other  in  his  market  value,  solely  because  the  demand 
for  his  labor  is  greater.  The  wages  or  salary  of  men  in  the  pro 
fessions  is  not  measured  solely  by  the  cost  of  their  education, 
but  by  the  price  which  their  services  will  bring  in  the  market ; 
and  this  is  ^determined  mainly,  though  not  entirely,  by  demand 
and  supply. 

"  When  an  emigrant  lands  in  this  country,  his  capital  value  is 
conditioned  by  these  two  elements,  cost  of  production  and  de 
mand.  There  are,  probably,  every  year  among  the  emigrants,  a 
few  thousand  of  poor,  ignorant,  and  rather  weakly  women  who 
become  sewing-wromen  in  the  great  cities.  These,  on  Mr.  Kapp's 
estimate,  should  be  worth  §750  each.  But,  owring  to  the  crowded 
state  of  the  market  for  such  instruments  of  production,  and  to 
their  own  ignorance,  and  the  consequent  small  demand  for  each 
seamstress,  those  women  are  probably  of  scarcely  any  pecuniary 
value  to  the  community,  and  are  often  a  burden.  On  the  very 
property  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  there  will  be,  this 
winter,  some  thousands  of  able-bodied  men,  who  not  only  pro 
duce  nothing,  but  are  supported  by  the  contributions  to  the  Emi 
gration  Fund  of  their  more  industrious  fellowrs.  These  cer 
tainly  are  not  worth  $1,175  capital  to  the  nation.  Then  take  the 
very  considerable  number  of  the  four  million  emigrants  who  have 
been  entirely  non-producers,  being  either  paupers,  or  criminals,  or 
diseased,  or  who  have,  as  neglected  children,  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  public  authorities,  or  whose  labor,  as  destitute  women,  has  not 
supported  themselves.  When  these  are  all  subtracted  from  the 
four  millions,  there  will  be  a  very  considerable  deduction  from  Mr. 
3£app's  enthusiastic  estimates  of  the  value  of  this  golden  tide. 

"  We  do  not  question,  however,  the  general  conclusion  of  the 
Commissioner's  paper — the  immense  value  of  this  current  of 
labor  to  the  production  and  development  of  the  country.  We 
would  only  diminish  somewhat  his  numerical  estimate  of  the 
pecuniary  worth  of  each  emigrant. 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  149 

"  Articles  which  are  in  universal  demand,  such  as  gold  and 
silver,  depend  for  their  value  mainly  on  the  cost  of  production. 
So  universal  is  the  demand  here  for  ordinary  male  labor,  that  its 
value  will  not  vary  much  from  the  expense  of  its  production  in 
this  country.  This  cost  Mr.  Kapp  has  probably  exaggerated  in 
making  it  double  that  of  Germany.  It  would  be  safe,  however, 
reckoning  from  the  expense  of  supporting  a  laborer's  male  child 
in  Germany,  to  call  the  capital  value  of  the  most  ordinary  farm 
hand  at  least  $1,000  or  $1,100  in  the  United  States. 

"  This  estimate  alone  would  justify  all  the  Commissioner's  en 
thusiasm  as  to  the  pecuniary  value  of  emigration. 

"  It  is  a  little  less  than  was  the  old  market  value  of  the  male 
slave,  for  the  reason,  probably,  as  Mr.  Olmsted  has  shown,  that 
the  pecuniary  value  of  slaves  was  somewhat  speculative,  based 
on  the  expectation  of  profit  from  the  best  cotton  lands. 

"  There  is  another  method  of  obtaining  '  the  capital  value ' 
of  the  male  emigrant,  which  we  throw  out  for  the  consideration 
of  your  readers  interested  in  questions  of  political  economy. 

"  Each  laborer  is  worth  (pecuniarily)  to  the  country  the  profits 
from  his  production  over  and  above  the  expense -of  his  support. 
His  average  cost  to  his  employer  is,  say,  $20  per  month  and 
'  keep,'  or  about  $400  per  annum.  It  is  believed  that  an  ordi 
nary  profit  on  common  labor  upon  a  farm  is  from  15  to  18 J  per 
cent.  Thig  would  leave  the  gain  to  the  country  from  $60  to  $75 
annually.  This,  at  seven  per  cent,  interest,  would  represent  just 
about  the  capital  value  estimated  above,  or  about  $1,000  or  $1,100 
for  an  average  male  laborer." 

So  far  Mr.  Brace.     I  freely  admit  that  the  economical  princi-Kepiy  to  Mr. 
pies  set  forth  by  him  are  incontrovertible;   but,  on  the  other   SSSf" 
hand,  I  claim  that  actual  experience  has  established  the  correct 
ness  of  the  position  I  have  assumed.     The  basis  for  my  state 
ments  and  estimates  is  chiefly  this : 

In  a  comparatively  new  country  like  the  United  States,  with 
its  immense  area  and  the  rapid  development  of  its  resources,  the 
demand  for  labor  is  always  greater  than  the  supply.  There  are, 
it  is  true,  some  pursuits  in  which  this  is  not  the  case.  During 
the  winter,  too,  in  large  cities,  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
emigrants  are  often  unable  to  find  suitable  employment  or  an 


150  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

adequate  reward  for  their  labor ;  but  this  state  does  not  continue 
for  any  length  of  time.  Seamstresses  who  cannot  find  work  in 
their  line  turn  to  other  occupations,  such  as  housemaids,  nurses, 
etc.  The  character  of  the  European  workingwoman  in  this 
respect  is  just  the  reverse  of  that  of  the  American.  "While  the 
latter  considers  labor  in  a  factory  to  be  of  a  more  elevated  charac 
ter,  and  would  never  descend  to  common  housework,  the  former 
is  content  to  exert  herself  in  any  decent  sphere  of  labor. 

But  for  argument's  sake,  let  me  admit  that  every  year  there 
are  a  few  thousand  poor,  ignorant,  and  incapable  men  or  women 
who  become  a  burden  to  the  community.  What  proportion  does 
their  number  bear  to  the  total  immigration  of  a  whole  year  ?  The 
New  York  Commissioners  of  Emigration  have  annually  to  sup 
port  an  average  of  about  2,000  sick  and  destitute  in  their  institu 
tions,  and,  besides,  a  few  hundred  criminals,  who  are  confined  at 
their  cost  in  the  city  prisons ;  but  all  this  does  not  amount  to  one 
per  cent,  of  the  entire  immigration.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  poorer  emigrants  remain  in  New  York  City,  and  that, 
consequently,  it  cannot  be  presumed  that  any  large  number  of 
the  others  become  a  burden  to  the  several  States. 

However,  I  will  even  go  so  far  as  to  admit  that  the  number 
of  those  who  not  only  produce  nothing,  but  are  supported  by  the 
contributions  of  States  or  counties,  reaches  5  per  cent.  Taking 
the  number  of  immigrants  in  1869  as  a  basis,  this  percentage 
would  give  between  12,000  and  13,000  non-producers.  But  even 
such  a  percentage  would  be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
large  number  of  emigrants  better  educated  than  the  ordinary 
laborers  who  form  the  basis  of  my  computation. 

An  emigrant  population  contains  a  very  small  percentage 
of  helpless  and  incapable  individuals.  Apart  from  the  law  which 
prohibits  the  landing  of  cripples,  blind,  deaf,  and  aged  persons,  it 
is  self-evident  that  only  the  strong,  the  most  courageous  and 
enterprising  natives  of  a  country  emigrate  to  a  foreign  land. 
The  unequal  representation  of  the  several  ages  and  sexes  among 
emigrants  is  due  to  this  fact.  Out  of  the  whole  immigration  to 
the  United  States  from  1819  to  1860,  more  than  22  per  cent. 
were  from  one  to  fifteen  years  old ;  a  little  over  50  per  cent,  were 
from  fifteen  to  thirty  years  of  age ;  more  than  73  per  cent,  were 


CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  151 

less  than  thirty  years  old;  more  than  46  ^£  per  cent,  were  from 
twenty  to  thirty-five  ;  more  than  60  per  cent,  were  from  fifteen 
to  thirty-five,  and  nearly  90  per  cent,  less  than  forty  years  old. 
Moreover,  the  sexes  approach  equality  only  among  children  and 
youths.  Of  individuals  under  twenty  years  of  age,  about  18  per 
cent,  were  males,  and  17  per  cent,  females,  while  the  male  immi 
grants  from  twenty-five  to  forty  years  of  age  were  double  the 
number  of  females  of  the  same  age. 

Of  the  total  immigration  to  the  United  States  within  the 
above-mentioned  period  (1819  to  1860),  amounting  to  5,459,421, 
the  occupation  of  2,978,599,  including  2,074,633  females,  is  not 
stated,  while  1,637,154  are  put  down  as  farmers  and  laborers, 
leaving  843,688  persons  wrho  were  either  mechanics  or  profes 
sional  jnen.  In  the  census  tables  for  that  period,  we  find  407,524 
mechanics,  4,326  clergymen,'  2,676  lawyers,  7,109  physicians, 
2,016  engineers,  2,490  artists,  1,528  teachers,  3,120  manufacturers, 
3,882  clerks,  and  5,246  seamstresses  and  milliners,  enumerated 
among  the  immigrants.  This  enumeration,  incomplete  as  it  is,  shows 
that  about  15  per  cent,  of  the  immigration  belong  to  that  class  of 
population  which  produces  more  than  the  common  laborer,  and 
that  therefore  the  5  per  cent.,  if  so  many,  of  helpless  and  un 
productive  emigrants  are  more  than  balanced  by  the  percentage 
of  higher  mechanical  and  professional  ability. 

We  will  next  consider  not  only  the  increase  of  population  by  Inm?|rnactf0°f  '["; 
the  immigrants  proper,  but  also  that  produced  by  their  descend- 


ants.  It  is  the  great  merit  of  Mr.  L.  Schade,  of  "Washington  City, 
to  have  first  applied  the  proper  principle  in  computing  the  gain 
of  population  in  this  country  from  immigration.  As  he  has 
shown,  if  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Government  to  exclude  all 
aliens  from  our  shores,  the  growth  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States  would  represent  simply  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths. 
In  1790,  the  population  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  slaves, 
was  3,231,930.  In  the  census  returns  for  1850,  we  find  that 
among  the  white  and  free  colored  population,  the  number  of 
births  was  548,835,  and  the  number  of  deaths  271,890.  The  ex 
cess  of  the  former  over  the  latter  —  276,945  —  represented  the 
increase  of  population  for  1850.  The  whole  population  of  whites 
and  free  colored  persons  in  1850  was  19,987,573.  This  increase, 


152  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

therefore,  was  at  the  rate  of  1'38  per  cent.  I  cannot  find  in  the 
small  edition  of  the  Census  for  1860  the  number  of  births;  but  in 
1860  the  percentage  of  increase  is  nearly,  if  not  precisely,  the 
same  as  in  1850 — the  total  increase  of  population  from  1840  to 
1850  being  35'87,  and  from  1850  to  1860  35-59  per  cent. 

That  this  estimate  of  1'38  as  the  yearly  rate  of  increase  of  the 
population  without  immigration  cannot  possibly  be  an  understate 
ment  appears  evident  when  we  compare  it  with  the  percentage 
of  the  yearly  increase  of  the  population  of  other  countries.  In 
England,  the  rate  was  only  1-25 ;  in  France,  0*44 ;  in  Russia, 
0-74;  in  Prussia,  1-17;  in  Holland,  1-23;  in  Belgium,  0*61;  in 
Portugal,  0-72;  and  in  Saxony,  1-08.  This  increase  of  1'38 
added  each  year  to  the  aggregate  of  the  preceding  year,  down 
to  1865,  would  give  us  the  population  of  the  United  States  as  it 
would  have  been  if  the  policy  of  excluding  immigration  had  been 
followed.  The  whole  white  and  free  colored  population  in  the 
year  1790  having  been  3,231,930,  it  would  have  amounted,  if  in 
creased  only  by  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths : 

In  1800  to  3,706,674,  while  in  fact  it  was,  exclusive  of  slaves,  4,412,896 

1810  4,251,143  "  "  "  6,048,450 

1820  4,875,600  "  "  "  8,100,050 

1830  '    5,591,775  "  "  "  10,796,077 

1840  6,413,161  "  "  "  14,582,008 

1850  7,355,423  "  "  "  19,987,563 

1860  8,435,882  "  "  "  27,489,662 

1865  9,084,245  "  "  "  about  30,000,000 

Deducting  9,034,245  from  30,000,000,  the  remainder,  or  20,965,755, 
represents  the  population  of  foreign  extraction  gained  by  the 
United  States  since  1790.  If  the  influx  of  aliens  had  been  stopped 
in  that  year,  the  population  in  1865  would  have  been  very  nearly 
what  it  was  in  1825.  Immigration,  therefore,  has  enabled  this 
country  to  anticipate  its  natural  growth  some  forty  years.  The 
increase  of  wealth  in  every  branch  of  national  activity  has  been, 
too,  in  the  exact  ratio  of  the  increase  of  population.  Official 
statistics  show,  indeed,  that  the  augmentation  of  imports,  exports, 
tonnage,  and  revenues  has  been  most  rapid  during  the  periods  of 
the  largest  immigration.  The  following  tables  give  ample  proof 
of  this  fact : 


CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  153 


Year. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Tonnage. 

Revenues. 

1800 

$91,252,768 

$70,971,780 

972,492 

$12,451,184 

18W 

85,400,000 

66,757,974 

1,424,783 

12,144,206 

1820 

74,450,000 

69,691,699 

1,280,166 

20,881,493 

1830 

70,876,920 

73,819,508 

1,191,776 

24,844,116 

1840 

131,571,950 

104,805,891 

2,180,764 

25,032,193 

1850 

178,136,318 

151,898,720 

3,535,454 

47,649,388 

1860 

362,168,941 

400,122,293 

5,358,868 

76,752,034 

The  number  of  immigrants  between  1819-1829  was  . 

.    .      128,502 

1830-1839      .    . 

.    .      538,381 

1839-1849      .    . 

.    .   1,427,337 

1849-Dec.  31,  1860    .   2,968,194 

Total  in  41M  years, 5,062,414 

We  hear  it  often  said  that  immigration  is  to  the  country,  not  immigration   a 

0  J  7  matter  of  State 

to  a  State ;  that  it  has  a  national  bearing ;  and  that  in  more  than  concern?' oual 
one  respect  we  stand  in  absolute  need  of  a  national  board  of 
emigration.  I  do  not  agree  with  this.  Immigration  is  undoubt 
edly  a  matter  of  national  importance,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  State 
concern  also.  I  will  endeavor  to  state  the  grounds  on  which  this 
opinion  rests. 

Ever  since  immigration  has  attained  greater  proportions,  le 
gal  questions  have  grown  out  of  the  financial  interests  connected 
with  it,  which  have  turned  on  the  point  whether  a  single  State 
has  or  has  not  the  right  to  tax  the  immigrant  on  his  arrival  for 
sanitary  purposes  and  for  his  protection.  As  this  tax,  or  commu 
tation  money,  of  §2  50,  which  is  levied  on  each  immigrant  land 
ing  at  New  York,  amounts  to  between  one-half  and  three-quarters 
of  a  million  per  year,  it  will  easily  be  understood  that  the  magni 
tude  of  the  amount  involved  induced  a  reference  of  the  questions 
to  the  highest  tribunals  of  the  land.  Lately,  this  same  question 
lias  again  been  taken  up  by  Western  newspapers,  and  by  some 
"Western  members  of  Congress.  They  demand  that  the  commu 
tation  money  which  immigrants  pay  at  the  several  ports  of  entry 
be  distributed,  pro  rata,  among  the  States  where  they  settle  ;  and 
to  effect  this  purpose  they  insist  that  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  should  take  the  whole  business  of  immigration  in  its  own 
hands  ;  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  make  all  needful  rules 
»nd  regulations,  and  appoint  the  proper  officers  in  the  same  man- 


154  CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

ner  in  which  the  Custom  House  officers  are  appointed ;  thus  do 
ing  away  entirely  with  all  State  institutions  which  have  been  es 
tablished  in  the  course  of  years  for  the  protection  of  immigrants. 
I  believe  not  only  that  existing  laws  authorize  the  single  State  to 
exercise  an  exclusive  control  over  immigrants,  but  that  the  real 
interest  of  the  country  requires  this  exclusive  State  control  to  be 
continued. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  New  York  is  the  principal  port  of 
entry  for  immigrants,  and  that  more  than  five-sevenths  of  them 
are  landed  there.  "Whether  directly  pointed  ont  or  not,  it  is  the 
port  and  State  of  New  York  against  which  the  attacks  of  those 
who  wish  to  give  to  the  General  Government  the  exclusive  power 
of  dealing  with  immigration  are  directed.  Now,  the  State  of 
New  York  is,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  the  only  one  which 
heretofore  has  organized  a  proper  system  for  the  protection  of  im 
migrants.  As  has  been  stated,  it  took  years  to  effect  a  wholesome 
reform  in  the  former  management  of  immigration,  and  to  create 
the  Board  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of 
New  York. 

All  that  can  be  admitted  in  regard  to  the  question  of  State  or 
national  control  is,  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  not 
only  the  right,  but  is  absolutely  bound,  in  the  interests  of  human 
ity,  to  protect  the  immigrant  on  the  high  seas,  in  his  transit  from 
foreign  countries,  and  to  make  for  that  purpose  international  trea 
ties,  which  Congress  alone  can  do.  But  the  authority  of  the  fed 
eral  legislative  power  extends  no  further  in  the  premises,  and  com 
pletely  ceases  after  the  immigrant  has  landed  and  put  himself 
under  the  operation  and  protection  of  the  State  laws.  For  Con 
gress  to  attempt,  then,  to  collect  from  him  any  tax,  or  to  assume 
his  support,  would  be  not  less  absurd  than  if  it  were  to  undertake 
to  license  the  boarding-house  where  he  puts  up,  to  appoint  the  po 
liceman  who  protects  him,  or  to  provide  him  with  transportation 
to  his  railway  depot.  The  care  of  the  immigrant,  after  he  lands, 
is  purely  a  police  regulation,  in  which  the  people  of  the  State 
where  he  lands  are  so  exclusively  interested  as  to  have,  beyond  a 
doubt,  the  best  right  to  provide  for  him.  The  harbor  of  the  'city 
of  New  York,  while  of  national  importance,  is  still  of  State  con 
cern,  and  so  it  is  with  foreign  immigration. 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  155 

But  granting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  immigration  is 
a  matter  of  national  concern,  it  is  doubtful  if  anything  but  evil 
would  result  from  abandoning  a  system  which  has  fully  realized 
its  purpose — which  has  been  tried  and  perfected  by  the  experi 
ence  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century;  whose  operations  are 
greatly  facilitated  by  being  concentrated  upon  a  comparatively 
small  area,  and"  the  agents  under  which  are  few,  practised,  and 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  a  Board  of  unsalaried  and 
non-partisan  Commissioners,  located  and  laboring  on  the  spot. 
To  replace  such  a  system  by  the  clumsy  machinery  of  a  central 
board,  or  by  a  single  Commissioner,  stationed  at  an  inland  city, 
remote  from  the  chief  objective  points  of  foreign  immigration, 
with  an  unwieldy  multitude  of  subordinates  scattered  over  the 
land,  whose  irresponsibility  would  inevitably  increase  in  the  di 
rect  ratio  of  their  distance  from  the  seat  of  authority,  would  be 
worse  than  unreasonable.  The  transfer  to  the  National  Govern 
ment  of  the  control  of  the  immigrant  would  lead  to  quarrels, 
heart-burnings,  and  jealousies  among  the  States,  as  the  control 
ling  officers  would  certainly  be  required  to  use  their  power  to  in 
fluence  the  current  of  immigration.  The  effect  would  undoubt 
edly  be  to  so  increase  the  cost  of  supporting  the  immigrant,  as 
either  to  quadruple  the  present  tax,  and  then  make  it  virtually  a 
prohibitory  one,  or  to  impose  the  burden  on  the  national  treasury, 
and  thus  make  the  immigrant  the  nation's  pauper. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  General  Government  would  encounter 
a  great  many  more  insurmountable  obstacles  and  be  called  upon 
to  remedy  more  evils  than  are  met  with  under  the  present 
system.  In  the  first  instance,  the  institutions  for  the  protection 
of  the  immigrant  would  have  to  be  largely  extended,  and  instead 
of  one  place  like  Castle  Garden,  a  dozen  would  be  required. 
Besides  the  Eastern  and  Southern  and  Western  ports,  the  large 
inland  cities,  like  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Milwaukee,  and 
St.  Paul,  would  have  to  be  provided  with  the  same  proportionate 
facilities  as  New  York.  Thus  the  General  Government  would 
be  obliged  to  sustain  ten  establishments,  while  the  income  derived 
from  the  commutation  would  remain  the  same.  At  a  very  lo\* 
estimate,  the  Government  would  have  to  pay  at  least  one  million 
of  dollars  per  year  out  of  its  coffers  for  this  purpose.  In  itself,  this 


156  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

sum  is  insignificant  when  expended  for  such  an  object ;  but  every 
cent  spent  from  the  national  treasury  for  the  immigrant  can  only 
injure  his  condition  and  the  proper  appreciation  of  his  value. 
Again,  we  all  know  the  tendency  of  originally  small  public 
expenditures  to  grow  into  large  ones.  While  one  million  might 
suffice  at  first,  many  millions  would  be  required  in  the  end.  One 
of  the  worst  consequences  would  be  that  immigration  would 
speedily  become  a  political  question,  and  as  such  the  subject  of 
strife  among  demagogues,  and  that  cry  against  the  "  importation 
of  foreign  paupers  "  would  doubtless  soon  be  raised  by  which  the 
condition  of  the  immigrants  would  be  deeply  affected.  Again, 
it  is  not  clear  to  me  how  the  United  States  can  establish  hospitals 
and  houses  of  refuge  for  the  small  percentage  of  sick  and  desti 
tute  among  immigrants,  unless  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
country  is  changed.  This  difficulty  would,  in  all  probability, 
lead  to  a  division  of  the  duties  for  the  protection  of  the  immi 
grant  between  the  General  and  State  governments,  so  that  the 
several  States  would  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  nursing  the 
sick  and  supporting  the  destitute.  "Whether  they  would  or  could 
do  this,  is  a  matter  about  which  I  have  considerable  doubt. 

There  is  another  weighty  objection  to  a  transfer  of  the  con 
trol  of  immigration  to  the  General  Government.  The  proper 
care  of  the  immigrant  requires  a  staff  of  efficient  officers,  having 
well-trained  employees  acting  under  them.  Experience  has  shown 
that  even  the  best  organized  minds  require  months  and  years  to 
master  this  task. 

The  best  and  most  efficient  agents  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Emigration  have  served  under  them  from  May  5,  1847,  that  is, 
from  the  birth  of  the  Commission.  They  have  educated  them 
selves  and  others  to  a  proper  comprehension  and  discharge  of  their 
duties.  They  are  familiar  with  all  the  minutiae  of  the  service, 
and  are  consequently  able  to  perform  their  work  more  speedily 
and  efficiently  than  inexperienced  new-comers.  The  uniformity 
and  stability  of  the  system,  the  undisturbed  march  of  progress  and 
reform,  the  absence  of  sudden  changes,  form  an  indisposition  to 
try  new  experiments,  constitute,  indeed,  the  main  reasons  of  the 
success  of  the  New  York  Commission  of  Emigration,  which  would 
never  have  been  attained  if,  with  the  advent  of  every  na 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  157 

tiona..  administration,  a  change  of  officers  and  clerks  had  taken 
place. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  mode  in  which  the  General 
Government  appoints  its  officers  is  very  far  from  giving  security 
for  the  proper  discharge  of  their  duties.  "We  have  seen  about  ten 
or  twelve  different  collectors  of  the  New  York  Custom  House 
since  1S47,  and  in  all  probability  each  new  administration  would 
have  paid  off  part  of  its  political  liabilities  by  appointments  to 
offices  in  connection  with  immigration.  The  place  of  general 
igent  or  treasurer  of  the  Commission  would  have  been  eagerly 
•sought  after,  as  the  salary  connected  therewith  is  larger  than  that 
of  any  one  subaltern  of  the  Collector  of  Customs  in  New  York. 
The  interest  of  the  ruling  party  would  have  been  paramount,  of 
course,  to  the  interest  of  the  immigrant.  And  how  many  clerks 
and  assistants  rotated  into  office  would  withstand  the  temptations 
held  out  in  the  immigration  business,  which  would  be  greater 
than  in  any  other  branch  of  the  civil  service  ?  When,  according 
to  the  statement  of  a  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  it  costs 
one  hundred  millions  in  bribes,  theft,  and  embezzlement  to  collect 
three  hundred  millions  of  revenue,  I  do  not  think  I  exaggerate 
when  I  state  that  the  immigrant,  if  handed  over  to  the  mercy  ol 
the  regular  office-holder,  would  not  leave  New- York  without 
having  been  fleeced  out  of  at  least  one-half  of  his  property. 
Certainly,  so  long  as  Mr.  Jenckes's  Civil  Service  Bill,  or  some 
such  measure,  has  not  become  the  law  of  the  land,  it  will-  be  a 
cruelty  and  an  aggravation  of  the  existing  evils  to  make  the  change 
referred  to. 

While  New  York  has  to  endure  nearly  all  of  its  evils,  the 
other  States  reap  most  of  the  benefits  of  immigration.  New  York 
protects  and  shields  the  immigrant  in  his  health  and  property, 
and  the  rising  communities  of  the  West  flourish  upon  the  fruits 
of  her  vigilant  care.  Our  State  acts,  so  to  speak,  as  a  filter  in 
which  the  stream  of  immigration  is  purified :  what  is  good  passes 
beyond ;  what  is  evil,  for  the  most  part,  remains  behind.  Experi 
ence  shows  that  it  is  the  hardy,  self-reliant,  industrious,  wealthy 
immigrant  who  takes  his  capital,  his  intelligence,  and  his  labor 
to  enrich  the  Western  or  Southern  States.  As  near  as  a  calcula 
tion  can  be  made,  it  has  been  ascertained  that  out  of  one  hundred 


158  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

continental  immigrants,  seventy-five  go  "West,  arid  twenty-five 
remain  in  the  great  cities  of  the  East,  while  of  the  Irish  and 
English,  twenty-five  settle  in  the  country,  and  seventy-five  remain 
in  the  cities  of  the  East.  Thus,  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  all  new 
comers  go  to  the  country,  and  of  these  again  about  seventy-five 
per  cent,  to  what  is  now  called  the  West.  In  1867,  of  242, 731 
immigrants,  only  91,610  declared  New  York  State  and  City  to  be 
the  place  of  their  destination;  in  1868,  out  of  213,686,  only 
65,734  proposed  to  remain  in  our  city  and  State;  and  in  1869, 
out  of  258,989,  the  total  who  stated  they  would  remain  in  New 
York  was  85,810. 

A  large  proportion  of  those  who  remain  here  is  made  up  of 
the  idle,  the  sickly,  the  destitute,  the  worthless,  who  would 
become  a  burden  instead  of  a  help  to  our  people,  were  it  not  for 
the  wise  institution  of  that  fund  which,  at  the  least  possible  cost 
to  the  immigrant,  yet  still  at  a  cost  that  relieves  him  from  the 
degradation  of  eleemosynary  aid,  provides  him  with  shelter  and 
support.  It  is  this  feature  of  our  State  emigrant  laws  which  is 
so  admirable,  and  which,  at  the  same  time,  for  reasons  already 
indicated,  it  wrould  be  most  difficult  for  the  General  Government 
to  imitate. 

The  same  trifling  sum  which  the  immigrant  pays  to  secure 
himself  against  the  danger  of  possible  sickness  or  destitution  for 
five  years  after  his  arrival,  and  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  insignifi 
cant  premium  on  a  policy  of  health  insurance  for  that  time, 
supports  the  establishment  which  takes  care  of  him  without 
burden  to  the  people  of  the  State.  It  is  this  feature  which 
invalidates  the  Western  claim  for  division  of  the  commutation 
money  pro  rata,  among  the  States  in  which  the  immigrant  settles. 
For  the  commutation  fund  is  the  consideration  of  a  contract  be 
tween  the  immigrant  and  the  State  of  New  York,  by  which  the 
latter  binds  herself  to  protect  him  on  his  arrival,  and  for  the 
period  of  five  years  thereafter  provide  him  with  shelter  if  desti 
tute,  and  with  medical  and  other  aid  if  sick. 

Contrary  to  the  arguments  of  those  who  favor  the  distribu 
tion  of  the  commutation  money  among  the  several  States  to 
which  immigrants  go  to  settle,  it  is  susceptible  of  proof  that 
such  a  distribution  would  eventually  result  in  injury  rather  than 


CAPITAL  YALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  159 

in  benefit  to  the  States  in  question.  For,  in  that  event,  the 
share  of  !N"ew  York  would  not  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  expense 
of  caring  for  the  disproportionately  large  number  of  sick  and 
destitute  who  remain  within  her  limits.  Our  State  could  not 
then,  as  she  does  now,  act  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  Union,  by 
efficiently  protecting  all  the  immigrants  on  their  arrival,  and  by 
preventing  the  spread  of  the  diseases  imported  by  them  over  the 
country  at  large,  and  this  while  deriving  far  less  advantage  from 
immigration  than  the  Western  States.  Let  those  who  compare 
the  exaction  of  the  commutation  money  by  the  Commissioners 
of  Emigration  of  this  State  to  the  u  Sound  dues  "  formerly  levied 
by  Denmark,  consider  whether  it  would  not  be  a  far  greater  dis 
advantage  for  the  Western  States  to  have  ship-fever,  cholera,  and 
other  pestilential  diseases  carried  among  their  people,  than  it  is 
for  them  to  do  without  the  share  of  the  commutation  money 
which  they  claim.  In  1846-47,  more  than  twenty  thousand 
immigrants  died  on  the  sea-voyage  and  immediately  after  land 
ing,  and  thousands  of  others  carried  the  germs  of  disease  to  the 
remotest  corner  of  the  land.  It  is  the  Commissioners  of  Emigra 
tion  who  have  since  prevented  the  spread  of  contagious  diseases 
beyond  their  hospitals,  and  the  East  as  well  as  the  West  ought  to 
thank  them  for  their  disinterested  care  of  the  immigrants,  and 
for  the  protection  of  the  whole  country  from  pestilential 
scourges. 

It  seems  to  me  that  those  who  wish  to  put  an  end  to  this 
beneficent  work  estimate  the  value  of  the  immigrant  by  dollars 
and  cents  instead  of  by  his  productive  power,  and  forget  entirely 
that  what  the  West  wants  is  healthy  men,  capable  of  assisting 
actively  in  the  development  of  her  resources.  This  want  is 
certainly  better  supplied  under  the  present  system  than  it  would 
be  were  a  change  made.  The  same  persons  also  seem  to  overlook 
entirely  the  beneficial  influence  exercised  upon  the  immigrant  by 
the  protection  against  fraud  and  imposition  of  every  kind  afforded 
to  him  by  the  Commissioners.  It  is  in  this  that  benevolence  and 
sympathy  find  their  true  sphere  of  action.  The  pecuniary  losses 
of  the  immigrant  from  his  own  ignorance  and  inexperience,  and 
from  the  rapacity  of  others,  are  to  be  deplored  as  much,  and 
even  more,  on  account  of  the  communitv  than  on  his  own 


160  CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

account.  For,  whenever  the  poor  immigrant  is  fleeced  "by  rogues, 
his  judgment  is  impaired,  his  energy  is  diminished,  and  in  general 
that  moral  elasticity  lost  which  he  needs  more  than  ever  to  start 
well  in  a  strange  land ;  and  thus  a  heavy  injury  is  inflicted  on 
his  adopted  country,  which,  instead  of  self-relying,  independent 
men,  receives  individuals  who  are  broken  in  spirit,  and,  at  least 
for  a  time,  useless,  who  are  burdensome  to  themselves  and  to 
others.  From  this  point  of  view,  every  one  who  has  the  interest 
of  his  fellow-being  and  of  his  country  at  heart,  has  the  strongest 
interest  in  having  the  immigrant  efficiently  protected,  and  in  co 
operating  with  those  who  are  officially  called  upon  to  provide  for 
this  protection. 

If  the  same  people  who  engage  our  attention  on  their  landing 
here  crossed  our  path  in  their  native  country  while  in  their  old 
accustomed  track  of  life,  the  task  would  be  comparatively  easy, 
for  in  that  case  they  would  much  more  readily  understand  their 
interest  and  advantage ;  they  would  not  be  confused  by  a  hundred 
new  impressions ;  and  the  majority  of  them  would  distinguish  the 
honest  man  from  the  scoundrel.  Upon  emigrating,  however,  the 
masses  enter  into  entirely  new  relations,  into  a  new  world  ;  two- 
thirds  of  them  do  not  know  the  language  of  .the  country,  and  all 
receive  in  one  single  hour  more  new  notions  and  ideas  than  for 
merly  in  years.  Thus,  they  find  themselves  without  proper  guid 
ance,  and  fall  the  easier  into  the  hands  of  impudent  impostors, 
perhaps  for  the  very  reason  that  they  have  been  warned  against 
them.  This  sudden  transition  from  one  country  into  another,  this 
change  of  old  homelike  surroundings,  with  new  conditions  of  life, 
all  of  which,  strange  and  some  offensive  to  the  immigrants,  often 
stuns  them  temporarily,  and  creates  a  general  bewilderment,  which 
even  makes  an  intelligent  man  appear  awkward  and  stupid. 

"Whatever  we  may  do,  we  cannot  absolutely  protect  the  immi 
grant  against  the  practices  of  sharpers  as  long  as  we  cannot  ob 
struct  the  sources  from  which  credulity  and  ignorance  flow.  "We 
can  take  some  precautionary  measures,  we  can  point  out  the  right 
way,  but  it  is  just  as  impossible  entirely  to  cure  the  evil  as  it  is  to 
put  an  end  to  human  depravity  in  general.  The  Commissioners 
cannot  be  expected  to  accomplish  an  impossibility.  In  New  York, 
a  special  detective  would  have  to  be  assigned  to  each  immigrant, 


CAPITAL  VALUE  OF  IMMIGRATION.  161 

in  order  to  render  him  absolutely  secure  against  all  attempts 
to  swindle  him.  What  a  board  like  that  of  the  Commissioners 
can  do  is  to  give  the  immigrant  the  best  possible  protection, 
and  this  duty  they  are  certainly  discharging. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

IMMIGRATION   AS    AFFECTED   BY   THE   CONSTITUTION    OF   THE 
UNITED    STATES. 

Cponwser  o? states       ^N  concluding  this  essay,  it  is  proposed  to  examine,  in  the  light 
em§ffion.on°f  the  decisions  of  the  court  of  last   resort,   the   constitutional 
power  of  the  several  States  to  legislate  on  the  subject  of  emigra 
tion,  and  especially  to  derive  a  revenue  from  immigrants. 

Dpi4ra°encomst""  There  are  but  three  cases  in  which  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  has  had  the  question  before  them.  The  first  was 
that  of  the  City  of  New  York  against  George  Milne,  reported  in 
11  Peters,  102,  in  which  the  decision  was  rendered  at  January 
term,  1837;  the  second  was  that  of  James  Morris  vs.  The  City 
of  Boston ;  and  the  third  and  last,  that  of  George  Smith  vs. 
William  Turner,  Health  Commissioner  of  the  Port  of  New  York. 
The  two  latter  were  decided  at  the  December  term  of  1848.  The 
three  cases  can  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words. 

c York°i ^GCO"  ^-n  ^n6  ^rs^  case>  ^ie  Corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York 
had  instituted  an  action  of  debt,  under  the  Statute  of  February  11, 
1824,  against  George  Milne,  as  consignee  of  the  ship  Emily,  for  the 
recovery  of  certain  penalties  imposed  by  this  act.  The  declaration 
alleged  that  the  Emily  arrived  in  New  York  in  August,  1829, 
from  a  country  out  of  the  United  States,  and  that  one  hundred 
passengers  were  brought  in  the  ship,  on  the  voyage,  and  that  the 
master  had  not  made  the  report  required ;  it  therefore  claimed 
that  the  amount  of  $15,000  as  penalties  had  become  due  in  con 
sequence  of  the  breaches  of  the  statute  referred  to.  The  defendant 
demurred  to  the  declaration,  and  the  question  finally  presented  to 
the  Supreme  Court  was,  whether  or  not  the  act  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  New  York  assumed  to  regulate  trade  and  com 
merce  between  the  port  of  New  York  and  foreign  ports,  and,  if  so, 
was  it  unconstitutional  and  therefore  void  ? 

The  two  other  cases  are  the  same  in  principle,  and  have  con 
sequently  been  considered  together. 


IMMIGRATION.  163 

The  plaintiff  in  the  case  of  Norris  vs.  The  City  of  Boston  ^7]^^ City 
was  an  inhabitant  of  St.  John's,  in  New  Brunswick,  an  English 
colony.  He  arrived  at  the  port  of  Boston,  in  June,  1837,  in  com 
mand  of  a  schooner  belonging  to  St.  John's,  having  on  board 
nineteen  alien  passengers.  He  was  compelled  to  pay  to  the  City 
of  Boston  the  sum  of  two  dollars  for  each  passenger  before  he 
could  obtain  permission  to  land  them.  This  amount  of  thirty- 
eight  dollars  was  paid  under  protest  that  the  exaction  was  illegal. 
An  action  was  thereupon  brought  against  the  City  of  Boston,  in 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  to  recover  back  this  money ;  under 
the  instructions  of  the  court,  the  jury  found  a  verdict  for  the 
defendant,  on  which  judgment  was  entered,  and  which  was 
affirmed  on  a  writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts. 
The  case  was  then  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

The  demand  was  made,  and  the  money  received  from  the 
plaintiff  in  pursuance  of  the  following  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  passed  on  April  20,  1837,  the  third  section  of 
which  reads  as  follows  :  "No  alien  passenger  shall  be  permitted 
to  land  until  the  master,  owner,  consignee,  or  agent  of  such  vessel 
shall  pay  the  regularly  appointed  boarding  officer  the  sum  of  two 
dollars  for  each  passenger  on  landing,  and  the  money  so  collected 
shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  city  or  town,  to  be  appro 
priated  as  the  city  or  town  may  direct,  for  the  support  of  foreign 
paupers." 

In  the  case  of  George  Smith  vs.  Turner,  the  plaintiff  in  error  George  smith 
was  master  of  the  British  ship  Henry  Bliss,  which  vessel  touched 
at  the  port  of  New  York  in  the  month,  of  June,  1841,  and  landed 
two  hundred  and  ninety  steerage  passengers.  The  defendant  in 
error  brought  an  action  of  debt  against  the  plaintiff  to  recover 
one  dollar  for  each  of  the  above  passengers.  A  demurrer  was 
filed  on  the  ground  that  the  statute  of  New  York  was  a  regulation 
of  commerce,  and  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  overruled  the  demurrer, 
and  the  Court  of  Errors  affirmed  the  judgment.  This  brought 
before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  the  constitutionality  of 
the  New  York  statute,  which,  under  the  general  denomination  of 
health  laws  in  New  York,  provides  that  the  Health  Commissioner 


164-  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

shall  demand  and  be  entitled  to  receive,  and  in  case  of  neglect  or 
refusal  to  pay  shall  sue  for  and  recover,  in  his  official  name,  from 
the  master  of  every  vessel  that  shall  arrive  at  the  port  of  New 
York  from  foreign  ports,  one  dollar  for  each  steerage  passenger, 
mate,  sailor,  or  mariner. 

C18amut8iouf  Ci)n-  The  subject  of  this  enquiry  is  complicated  with,  and  depends 
1  "n"  on,  the  construction  of  the  first,  second,  fourth,  and  fifth  clauses 
of  the  eighth  section,  the  first  and  fifth  clauses  of  the  ninth 
section,  and  the  second  clause  of  the  tenth  section  of  the  first 
article  ;  of  the  first  clause  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  with  the  ninth  and  tenth  articles 
of  the  amendments  to  that  instrument. 

The  first  and  second  clauses  of  the  eighth  section  of  the  first 
article,  so  far  as  in  point  here,  read  as  follows  : 

"  1.  The  Congress  shall  have  power, 

"  2.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  ;  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States  ;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises 
shall  be  uniform  throuhout  the  United  States." 


construction  of       Upon  the  construction  of  this  section,  the  point  is  made  that 

eighth  section,  r  *• 


"ie  collection  of  taxes  is  a  power  substantively  vested  in  Congress, 
lon'  and  not  incident  to  the  power  to  regulate  foreign  and  inter- 
State  commerce.  The  regulation  of  commerce  vested  in  Con 
gress  was  not,  therefore,  understood  by  the  framers  of  the  Con 
stitution  to  apply  to  any  species  of  taxation,  and  is  not  to  be 
resorted  to  for  any  argurpent  respecting  the  continuance  in  or 
ademption  from  the  several  States  of  the  power  to  impose  any  kind 
of  taxes.  The  Federalist,  "No.  32,  asseverated  that  the  several 
States  would  retain  their  taxing  power  absolutely  undiminished 
except  by  the  express  prohibitions  on  State  taxation,  which  is  in 
compatible  with  an  implied  curtailment  of  those  powers  by  virtue 
of  the  clause  vesting  Congress  with  the  regulations  of  commerce. 

opinion  of  j.  This  point  is  strongly  put  by  Daniels,  J.,  in  his  dissenting 
opinion  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  Y  Howard,  U.  S.  E.,  p.  429, 
who  cites  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  9  Wheaton,  201,  in  support 

j.  McLean        of  it.     The  correctness  of  the  citation  is  admitted  by  McLean,  J., 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  165 

of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  but  the  soundness  of  the 
doctrine  is  disputed  on  the  ground  that  the  uniformity  of  duties, 
imposts,  and  excises  throughout  the  Union  is  incompatible  with 
their  imposition  by  other  than  the  general  power.  This  objection 
must  be  regarded  as  exploded  by  the  subsequent  practice  of  the 
Government  in  the  matter  of  excises.  That  practice  proceeds  on 
the  assumption  that  the  mandate  that  excises  must  be  uniform  is 
addressed  to  Congress  only.  C.  J.  Taney,  also,  of  the  minority  in  c.  j. 
Smith  vs.  Turner,  is  likewise  clear  (7  Howard,  479)  that  Congress 
takes  all  its  power  of  indirect  taxation  from  this  clause,  and  none 
(except  the  right  to  tax  slaves  imported)  from  any  other,  and 
says  that  this  view,  under  which  the  Constitution  was  adopted, 
has  been  frequently  confirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  (Marshall, 
C.  J.,  in  Billings  vs.  Providence,  4  Peters,  561).  The  same  view 
is  taken  by  Woodbury,  J.,  also  of  the  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner 
(7  Howard,  549) 

It  would  appear  to  be  still  an  open  question,  unless  impliedly  Power 
closed  by  the  majority  vote  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  whether  Con-  p^  whence 
gress  derives  its  power  of  indirect  taxation  from  other  sources 
than  the  present  clause.  If  this  is  the  sole  source,  it  is  clear 
that  it  is  not  exclusive,  because  the  power  of  the  States  to  tax  in 
directly  has  never  been  disputed,  and  has  been  constantly  exercised. 
And  if  this  is  the  sole  source  of  the  taxing  power  of  Congress, 
that  power,  as  applied  to  immigrants,  is  not  only  not  exclusive 
in  Congress,  but  it  is  probably  not  vested  in  Congress  at  all. 
The  power  to  levy  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  is  not  gene 
ral,  but  is  restricted  to  such  as  are  laid  for  the  payment  of  the 
debts  or  common  defence  or  general  welfare  of  the  United  States. 

The  general  welfare  of  the  United  States  does  not  include  the 
protection  of  the  tax-payers  of  New  York  from  exorbitant  poor 
taxes.  See  9  "VVheaton,  199,  206,  cited  by  "Woodbury,  J.,  in  Smith 
vs.  Turner,  7  Howard,  550.  Now,  if  Congress  is  without  power 
to  effect  an  end  necessary  for  the  public  safety  and  comfort,  it 
cannot  be  pretended  that  that  power  is  taken  from  the  States. 

The  provision  that  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  the  United  States  is  invoked  by  McLean,  J.,  to  prove 
that  the  power  to  impose  them  must  necessarily  be  exclusively  in 
Congress.  This  point  has  been  already  referred  to.  Judge 


166  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

"Woodbuiy  (7  Howard,    546)   holds   that  legislation   respecting 
foreign  paupers  is  not  required  to  be  uniform. 

FSih5icl8e"!t1o0nf       ^ie  fourth  clause  of  the  eighth  section  of  the  first  article 
offcflonJt?truu<Jn  provides  that  Congress  shall  have  power  "  to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  States,  and  with  the 
Indian  tribes." 

Is  or  is  not  this  power  vested  in  Congress  to  the  exclusion  of 

j.  McLean.  the  States  ?  The  affirmative  is  held  by  McLean,  J.,  of  the  majo 
rity  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  on  the  ground  that  the  idea  of  its  being 
vested  concurrently  in  Congress  and  in  the  States  involves  a  total 
repugnancy  (Holmes  vs.  Jennison,  14  Peters,  517),  and  because 
two  wills  cannot  be  compatibly  exercised  respecting  the  same 
subject  at  the  same  time  (Houston  vs.  Moore,  5  Wheaton,  23). 
He  says  that  in  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  9  "Wheaton,  196,  Johnson,  J., 
expressly,  and  the  majority  of  the  court  impliedly,  held  that  the 
power  was  exclusive,  and  that  Judge  Story  drew  the  same  result 
from  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden  in  !N"ew  York  vs.  Milne,  11  Peters,  156 
(Judge  Story  there  also  says  that  he  knew  C.  J.  Marshall  [then 
deceased]  agreed  with  him).  To  the  same  effect,  he  says,  Marshall, 
C.J.,  reviewed  the  whole  ground  in  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden.  The 
Constitution  restricts  the  power  of  the  States  to  lay  duties  on 
imports,  and  this  was  admitted  and  acknowledged  in  Gibbons  vs. 
Ogden  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  power  to  tax  in  the  States. 
"  But,"  says  Judge  McLean,  "  I  dd  not  think  it  admits  the  power 
of  the  States  to  regulate  commerce."  He  refers  to  "Wilson  vs.  The 
Blackbird  Creek  Marsh  Co.,  2  Peters,  250,  and  says  "  that  it  does 
not  decide,  as  contended,  that  a  State  may  regulate  commerce,  but 
only  that  where  a  creek  otherwise  navigable  falls  into  the  sea,  but 
is  of  so  limited  an  extent  that  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the 
general  regulation  of  commerce  will  apply  to  it,  and  a  State  causes 
it  to  be  dammed  for  the  sake  of  the  public  health,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  will  not  overrule  such  a  State  law 
until  Congress  expressly  exercises  federal  jurisdiction  over  the 

j  wayne.  subject.  Judge  Wayne,  of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner, 
says  (7  Howard,  410)  that  the  exclusiveness  is  unquestionable 
since  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  and  (p.  415)  that  the  States  have  given 
away  all  control  of  commerce,  except  the  regulation  of  their 
internal  trade.  Admitting  that  the  opinion  delivered  by  Judge 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  167 

Barbour  as  that  of  the  Court,  in  1837,  in  New  York  vs.  Milne  (11 
Peters,  130),  militates  against  this  view,  he  says  that  opinion 
never  had  the  majority,  but  was  assented  to  by  three  judges 
(Barbour,  Taney,  C.J.,  Thompson)  only  out  of  seven  (Baldwin, 
McLean,  Wayne,  Story).  The  opinion  in  that  case  of  Judge  j.  Baldwin. 
Baldwin,  which  was  accidentally  excluded  from  the  report,  but 
published  the  same  year  in  Baldwin's  "  Yiews  of  the  Constitu 
tion,''  also  declares  the  power  exclusive.  At  the  first  consulta 
tion  of  the  Judges,  Thompson,  J.,  was  directed  to  write  the  opin 
ion  of  the  Court.  When  he  read  his  production,  it  was  objected 
to  on  another  ground,  that  is,  on  the  ground  that  Thompson  de 
clared  a  State  might  regulate  commerce  wherever  there  was  at 
the  time  no  conflicting  Congressional  legislation,  whereas  the 
majority  of  the  Court  preferred  to  leave  that  point  open.  He 
then  said  he  would  read  it  as  his  own  opinion.  Barbour  then 
undertook  to  deliver  the  opinion  of  the  Court.  Without  a  further 
consultation,  he  read  it,  just  before  the  Court  separated. 

Baldwin  immediately  objected,  on  the  ground  that  Barbour 
said  persons  were  not  the  subjects  of  commerce,  and  not  imported 
goods  ;  privately,  but  in  vain.  Wayne  says  there  was  no  inten 
tion  in  New  York  vs.  Milne  to  deviate  from  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden 
or  Brown  vs.  Maryland  (12  Wheaton,  438).  He  admits  that,  in 
Grove  vs.  Slaughter  (15  Peters,  549),  Baldwin  spoke  approvingly 
of  New  York  vs.  Milne,  but  that,  so  far  from  denying  the  ex- 
clusiveness,  he,  in  that  very  opinion,  asserted  it  to  have  been 
conclusively  settled  by  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden  and  Brown  vs.  Mary 
land.  Judge  Grier,  likewise  of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner, 
evidently  regards  the  question  of  the  exclusiveness  of  this  power 
as  still  open. 

Daniels,  J.,  of  the  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  admits  that  in  j.  Daniel* 
Gibbons  vs.  Ogden  Judge  Johnson  pronounced  for  exclusiveness, 
but  remarks  that  the  majority  in  that  case  expressly  disclaim  an 
intention  to  pass  upon  the  point.  He  contends  that  Story,  J.  (one 
of  the  majority  in  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden),  held,  in  Houston  vs.  Moore, 
5  Wheaton,  48,  the  direct  contrary  of  what  in  New  York  vs.  Milne, 
11  Peters,  158,  he  pronounces  to  be  the  law  as  settled  in  Gibbons 
vs.  Ogden  (see  13  Barb.,  206 ;  People  vs.  Huntington,  4  New 
York  Leg.  Obs.,  187).  Judge  Barbour,  Judge  Thompson,  and 


168 


IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 


J.  Catron. 


C.  J.  Taney. 


J.Xelson 


Baldwin,  of  the  supposed  majority,  and  Story,  J.,  of  the  minority, 
in  New  York  vs.  Milne  (1837),  died  before  Smith  vs.  Turner, 
McLean  and  Wayne  of  the  majority j  and  Taney,  of  the  minority, 
survived.  Judge  Catron,  of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner, 
incidentally  declares  the  power  exclusive  (7  Howard,  448),  but 
does  not  dwell  on  the  point.  Taney,  C.J.,  of  the  minority  in 
Smith  vs.  Turner,  evades  the  direct  question  of  exclusiveness,  but 
says  that  the  passage  objected  to  in  Thompson,  J.'s  opinion  in 
New  York  vs.  Milne,  was  that  in  which  he  said  that  a  State 
might  regulate  commerce,  while  the  power  so  to  do  in  Congress, 
respecting  a  particular  matter,  was  dormant,  and  that  the  reason 
of  the  objection  was  that  the  majority  desired  to  leave  that 
question  open. 

Nelson,  J.,  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  concurs  in  all  points  with 

j.  woodbury.  Tatiey.  Wbodbury,  J.,  of  the  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  holds 
that  the  power  is  not  exclusive  (7  How.,  554:),  because  there  is  no 
express  prohibition  on  the  States,  and  because  the  power  is  not  in 
its  nature  necessarily  exclusive  (Federalist,  82 ;  14  Peters,  575), 
and  cites  many  other  authorities  (p.  555).  "Where  the  doctrine 
is  apparently  contravened,  he  says  it  is  in  the  application,  not  in 
principle.  The  regulation  of  commerce  has  been  expressly  held 
not  exclusively  vested  in  Congress,  so  as  to  prevent  the  States 
from  regulating  bridges  and  ferries  (cites  authorities,  p.  556),  fish 
eries  ($.),  pilots  (p.  557).  He  says  it  has  been  nowhere  decided 
that  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  is  exclusive  (p.  559),  that 
the  contrary  has  been  held  in  the  License  Case  (5  Howard,  504). 
He  contends  that  much  of  the  regulation  of  trade  is  necessarily 
local,  and  the  nature  of  the  power  does  not  require  it  to  be 
exclusive. 

case*  cited  to       That  the  regulation  of  commerce  is  not  exclusively  vested  in 
tion  of  com-  Congress  is  also  laid  down  in  Cooley  on  Constitutional  Limita- 

merce  not  ex-  •/ 

tions,  p.  486,  citing  Cooley  vs.  Board  of  Wardens  (12  Howard, 
299 ;  Sin  Ling  vs.  Washburn,  20  CaL,  534 ;  Crandall  vs.  Ne 
vada,  6  Wall ;  State  vs.  Delaware,  etc.,  1  Yroom,  413). 

The  latter  case  decides  that  a  State  may  tax  the  business  of  a 
railroad,  incorporated  by  a  sister  State,  transporting  across  the 
taxing  State,  graduating  the  tax  by  the  number  of  passengers 
and  weight  of  goods  carried.  The  contrary  appears,  however,  to 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  169 


have  been  decided  between  the  same  parties  (on  appeal  ?),  30 
Jersey  Reports,  531. 

In  exparte  Crandall  it  was  decided  (1  !N"ev.,  294)  that  a  State 
may  tax  passengers  leaving  the  State. 

A  State  may  tax  a  State  steamship  company  plying  to  and 
from  Brazil,  on  its  capital  (People  vs.  Commissioner  of  Taxes, 
48  Barb.,  157). 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  say  on  which  side  the  scale  of  autho-  Authorities  con 
rity  turns.      The  question,  however,  may  be  evaded,  without 
avoiding  to  decide  the  question  here  involved. 

Because  it  is  not  disputed  that  where  Congress  has  regulated 
commerce  the  States  cannot  interfere  by  conflicting  regulations 
(Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  9  "Wheaton,  195 ;  Grier,  J.,  of  the  majority 
in  Smith  vs.  Turner). 

But,  has  Congress  regulated  commerce  in  this  particular? 
"  Aye,"  say  Judge  McLean  and  Judge  Grier,  of  the  majority  in 
Smith  vs.  Turner,  "  it  has  regulated  it,  by  willing  that  this  trade 
should  be  free."  "  Aye,"  says  Judge  Catron,  "  because  they  have 
exempted  the  property  of  emigrants  "  (Act  March,  1799,  §  46),  and 
because  they  expressly  allow  the  emigrant  to  appear  at  the  Cus 
tom  House  with  his  goods  (17  Howard,  443),  and  to  come  into  the 
federal  courts  and  sue  (444). 

"  Xo,"  says  Taney,  C.  J.,  of  the  minority,  "  because  the  Act  of 
1799  only  presupposes  the  landing."  It  does  not  repose  the  de 
cision  of  who  shall  be  allowed  to  inhabit  the  country  in  a  ship 
master  (p.  471).  Nelson  agrees  with  Taney. 

"Woodbury,  J.,  says,  very  forcibly,  that  it  is  arguing  in  a  circle 
to  contend  that  a  power  is  exclusive  if  Congress  speaks,  and, 
therefore,  if  Congress  is  silent,  that  silence  is  a  speech,  because 
the  power  is  exclusive.  The  power  must  first  be  shown  to  be  ex 
clusive  before  it  can  be  said  that  the  silence  of  Congress  speaks 
(p.  559).  On  the  hypothesis  of  exclusiveness  in  all  mere  grants, 
what  becomes  of  concurrent  power  under  any  circumstances  ? 

Are  passengers  the  subject  of  regulations  of  commerce  ?  The 
majority  of  the  Court  (McLean,  Grier,  Wayne,  Catron,  McKin- 
ley)  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  says  Yes.  McLean  says  commerce  does 
not  relate  exclusively  to  "  commodities,"  unless  they  include  pas 
sengers.  Says  that  has  been  settled  in  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden. 


gnlations     o  i 
commerce  ? 


Conflicting  opi 
nions 


170  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

That  commerce  means  commercial  intercourse  is  also  held  in 
People  vs.  Brooks,  4  Denis,  469. 

The  word  "  commerce,"  says  Wayne,  J.,  was  used  with  refer 
ence  to  the  fact  that  taxes  are  not  usually  imposed  on  persons 
until  they  have  resided  some  time  in  the  State  (Martens,  69  ;  7 
How.,  417).  The  decision  in  Milne  is  not  to  the  contrary  (428). 
So  much  of  the  opinion  of  J.  Barbour  as  seems  to  be,  is  not  as 
sented  to  by  the  majority,  especially  that  part  which  declares 
that  persons  are  not  the  subjects  of  commerce.  Judge  Baldwin's 
decision  sustains  this  assertion.  In  New  York  vs.  Milne,  "Wayne, 
McLean,  Thompson,  and  Baldwin  all  objected  to  the  doctrine 
that  persons  are  not  the  subjects  of  commerce.  In  Groves  vs. 
Slaughter,  Baldwin  says  commerce  means  intercourse. 

The  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner  (Daniels,  Taney,  Wood- 
bury,  Nelson)  contest  this  with  bitterness  (p.  493,  p.  541). 

Are  laws  imposing  taxes  on  foreign  passengers,  to  be  applied 
to  the  support  of  foreign  paupers,  regulations  of  commerce  ?  The 
majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner  affirm  the  proposition.  Daniels,  J., 
of  the  minority,  says  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden  proves  that  regulations 
of  commerce  do  not  embrace  any  taxes.  The  opinion  given  as 
the  opinion  of  the  Court  by  Barbour,  J.,  in  New  York  vs.  Milne, 
agrees  in  this  respect  with  the  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner. 
Taney,  C.J.,  refers  to  this  subject  (p.  470).  He  thinks  this 
imposes  no  burden  on  commerce,  but  only  exacts  security  against 
pauperism.  Woodbury  (p.  578)  says  the  measure  is  not  intended 
to  regulate  trade,  and  does  not,  for  emigrants  are  not  deterred. 
Free  passengers  are  not  included  in  commerce  as  regulated, 
though  slaves  might  be  (p.  541).  This  regulation  was  made 
diverso  intuitu  (546). 

Does  the  fact  that  a  State  law,  made  for  a  legitimate  State 
purpose,  exercises  a  collateral  influence  on  commerce,  make  it  un 
constitutional  ? 

It  does,  says  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner.  Grier,  J., 
says  a  State  cannot  do  indirectly  what  it  cannot  do  directly.  The 
police  power  of  the  State,  says  McLean,  cannot  draw  within  its 
jurisdiction  objects  which  lie  beyond  it.  The  object,  says  Catron,  J., 
does  not  sanctify  the  means.  In  New  York  vs.  Milne,  Story,  J., 
dissenting,  said,  though  the  States  can  make  police  regulations, 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  171 

they  cannot  make  them  by  regulating  commerce,  and  that  he 
knew  Marshall,  C.  J.,  had  been  of  the  same  opinion. 

But  the  majority  in  New  York  vs.  Milne  seem  to  have  thought 
otherwise,  and  so  do  the  minority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner.  Taney, 
C.J.,  savs  the  negative  was  ruled  in  the  License  Cases  (5  How- 

t/  O  \ 

ard,  473)  and  in  the  Federalist,  No.  32.  A  State. tax,  though  at 
the  same  time  a  regulation  of  commerce,  is  not  forbidden  (7  How., 
419 ;  Billings  vs.  Providence  Bank,  4  Peters,  561).  It  is  no 
objection  to  a  quarantine  regulation  that  it  is  self-supporting 
(p.  414).  AVoodbury  says  that  to  impute  sinister  designs  to  a 
State  is  unseemly  (552). 

A  State  law  may  exclude  foreign  criminals  and  diseased  per-  states  have 
sons,  and  may,  to  prevent  loss  by  subsequent  pauperism,  exact  JJgJf^JJ1^" 
bonds  from  passengers,  and  may  compel  masters,  before  landing,  {Jond».°  exac* 
to  report  their  passengers,  and  may  have  them  inspected. 

The  latter  part  of  this  proposition  was  denied  by  the  minority 
in  New  York  vs.  Milne ;  and  such  appears  to  have  been  the 
opinion  of  Marshall,  C. J.,  in  Grove  vs.  Slaughter.  But  the  law 
is  now  clearly  settled.  The  exaction  of  bonds  has  not  the  sanc 
tion  of  any  decision  of  the  court,  for  the  judgment  in  New  York 
vs.  Milne  carefully  avoids  the  point,  and  Judge  Taney  admits 
that  there  was  great  diversity  (7  How.,  p.  481) ;  he  says  for  himself 
that  he  entertains  no  doubt  of  the  lawfulness  of  these  bonds. 

Can  a  State  first  exact  bonds,  and  then  provide  that  they  may 
be  commuted  in  money  ?  Such  is  the  present  law  of  New  York, 
and  its  constitutionality,  though  unsustained  by  decision,  appears 
to  be  tacitly  admitted. 

The  fourth  clause   of  the  eighth  section  of  the  first  article  Fourth   clause, 

eighth  section. 

reads  thus : 

• 

"  Congress  shall  have  power  to  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  p?riizat°umnaeE 
naturalization."  clusive- 

This  power  is  exclusive  (2  Dallas,  372;  2  Wheaton,  269;  5 
Howard,  585  ;  7  Howard,  556 ;  3  W.  C.  C.,  314).  Judge  Catron, 
of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  says  that  this  provision  forbids 
the  exclusion  of  foreigners  by  the  States,  or  the  taxation  of  them 
on  entering  (7  Howard,  448).  So  does  Judge  "Wayne  (p.  426). 


172  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

But  Taney,  C.  J.,  says  that  this  clause  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
admission  of  foreigners  (p.  483) ;  it  was  adopted  to  prevent  one 
State  from  making  citizens  for  another. 
First  clause,        The  first  clause  of  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article  reads: 

ninth  section— 

tts^nterpreta- «  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the 
States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 
prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  1808,  but  a  tax  or 
duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importations  not  exceeding  ten 
dollars  for  each  person." 

"  This  clause,"  says  McLean,  J.,  of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs. 
Turner,  "  proves  that  the  regulation  of  commerce  covers  volun 
tary  as  well  as  involuntary  immigration."  McKinley,  J.,  says  it 
distinguishes  between  migration  and  importation,  by  subjecting 
the  latter  only  to  taxation,  but  that  it  declares  them  both  subjects 
of  commercial  regulations.  It  impliedly  allows  Congress  to  pro 
hibit  immigration  into  all  new  States  even  before  1808,  and 
therefore  forbids  the  States  to  tax  it.  "Wayne,  J.,  agrees  with 
him. 

Daniels,  J.,  contends  this  clause  applies  purely  to  the  slave- 
trade  (Federalist,  No.  42).  Taney,  C.  J.,  the  same  (7  Howard,  474  ; 
Madison  Papers).  The  power  to  prohibit  voluntary  immigration 
could  not  have  been  intended  to  be  conferred,  because  all  the 
States  were  in  favor  of  it.  All  the  States  then  admitted  volun 
tary  immigrants.  This  shows  the  clause  relates  to  slaves  only. 
"  Migration  "  was  used  lest  "  importation  "  might  not  aptly  apply 
to  human  beings.  At  all  events,  there  is  no  power  to  compel  the 
States  to  admit  emigrants.  "Woodbury,  J.,  says  that  the  power 
to  tax  is  conferred  only  respecting  slaves.  A  special  clause  was 
introduced  for  that  purpose,  because  it  was  doubtful  whether  such 
a  tax  was  an  impost  (1  Blackstone,  by  Tucker,  p.  231).  Besides, 
this  class  does  not  confer  a  power,  but  limits  it  (p.  541). 
Fifth  clause,  The  fifth  clause  of  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article  reads 

ninth  section. 

(as  far  as  in  point  here) : 

"  E"o  preference  shall  be  given,  by  any  regulation  of  commerce 
or  revenue,  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor 
shall  vessels  bound  to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another." 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  173 

McLean,  J.,  of  the  majority  in  Smith  vs.  Turner,  says  that, 
if  foreigners  are  thus  to  be  taxed,  as  well  might  passengers  who 
come  from  another  State.  This  is  unconstitutional  because  of 
the  clause  cited ;  but  this  does  not  protect  passengers,  except  by 
the  same  implication  as  does  the  clause  respecting  the  regulation 
of  foreign  commerce. 

The  second  clause  of  the  tenth  section  of  the  first  article  second  clause, 

,  tenth  section- 

reads  I  ite  application 

to  passengenj. 

"No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the 
net  produce  of  all  duties  and  imposts  laid  by  any  State  on 
imports  or  exports  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States.  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress, 
lay  any  duty  of  tonnage." 

In  Smith  vs.  Turner,  Grier,  J.,  of  the  majority,  says  an 
act  imposing  a  tax  on  passengers  from  foreign  ports  before  land 
ing  might  be  called  an  act  to  raise  revenue  off  vessels  trans 
porting  passengers.  It  is  a  duty  on  the  vessel,  producing  a  like 
result  as  a  tax  on  tonnage.  That  the  tax  is  really  paid  by  the 
passenger  is  no  answer.  Such  is  any  indirect  tax.  A  State, 
says  Catron,  Jr., "  cannot  raise  duties  on  imports  as  a  revenue 
measure  for  her  own  treasury."  The  passengers  had  not  yet 
come  under  State  jurisdiction,  because  they  could  not  be  taxed 
without  either  taxing  tonnage  or  imports.  In  New  York  vs. 
Milne,  Barbour,  giving  what  appears  as  the  opinion  of  the  Court, 
says  that  passengers  are  not  imported  goods.  But  this,  says 
Wayne,  is  what  made  Baldwin  say  he  liked  this  opinion  less 
than  Thompson's,  and  which  was  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  five 
of  the  judges.  But  in  Smith  vs.  Turner  this  opinion  is  held  by 
Daniels,  Taney,  Nelson,  and  "Woodbury.  That  passengers  are 
not  imports,  says  Taney,  C.J.,  was  decided  in  New  York  vs. 
Milne.  But  at  all  events  this  tax  was  necessary  for  the  inspec 
tion  of  these  imports  (477,  481).  Woodbury,  that  passengers  are 
not  imports,  cites  Brown  vs.  Maryland  (McCulloch,  Dictionary, 
article  Passengers ;  5  How.,  594,  614).  If  they  were,  they  would 


174  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

be  dutiable  as  non-enumerated.     Whether  a  tax  is  imposed  on 
shipboard  or  in  a  hotel,  cannot  make  a  void  tax  valid  or  a  valid 
tax  void. 
First  clause,  Pe-       The  first  clause  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article 

cond    section, 

fourth    article  reads  aS  follOWS  I 

— its   interpiG- 

tation. 

"  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges 
and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States." 

Woodbury,  J.  (7  Howard,  525),  says  that  but  for  this  clause 
each  State  would  have  the  right  to  exclude  the  citizens  of  every 
other  State,  and  that,  as  respects  foreigners,  the  original  right  of 
each  State  to  exclude  all  except  its  own  citizens  is  unimpaired. 

Taney,  C.  J.  (p.  491),  says :  "  I  believe  only  so  much  of  this 

act  as  taxes  passengers  coming  from  foreign  ports  is  constitutional. 

The  citizens  of  one  State  have  >  free  access  to  "Washington,  etc., 

and  to  pursue  slaves,"  etc. 

second  section,       The  second  section  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Constitution 

sixth  article. 

says: 

"  This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land." 

"  Whenever  a  right  .grows  out  of  or  is  protected  by  a  treaty, 
it  is  sanctioned  against  all  the  laws  and  judicial  decisions  of  the 
States ;  and  whoever  may  have  this  right,  it  is  to  be  protected." 
5  Or.,  348 ;  4  Am.  Law  Eeports,  604 ;  6  Opin.,  291,  Walker;  Or., 
129;  1  Doug.,  546. 

opinions  of  "  By  Art.  14  of  Treaty  of  1794  with  England,"  says  McLean,  J., 
in  Smith  v.  Turner  (7  Howard,  468),  "the  people  of  each  country 
may  freely  come  into  the  other."  "  But,"  says  Daniels,  J.,  of  the 
minority,  "  in  the  first  place,  treaties  are  not  supreme  unless  made 
within  the  authority  legitimately  exercised  by  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment.  A  treaty  can't  cede  away  a  right  of  a  single  State  re 
served  in  the  Constitution.  In  the  second  place,  that  article  can 
not  be  so  construed  as  to  prohibit  such  taxation."  Taney,  0.  J., 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  175 

also  of  the  minority  (p.  471),  says  the  treaty  admits  foreigners, 
subject  to  our  laws. 

The  ninth  and  tenth  articles  of  the  Amendment  to  the  Con- KianJ tf" iV8eiof 
stitution  read  as  follows :  &m  eCoSl™c-: 

tion  in   Smith 

"  9.  The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution  of  certain  rights   z 
shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  and  disparage  others  retained  by 
the  people. 

"  10.  The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the 
Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to 
the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

See  1  Story,  Constitution,  §  447 ;  1  McLean,  234 ;  5  Harris 
(Remd.),  119. 

In  Smith  vs.  Turner,  Grier,  J.,  of  the  majority,  says :  "  This  is 
not  the  case  of  a  police  regulation  to  repel  paupers,  lunatics,  or 
criminals.  That  right  was  vindicated  in  New  York  vs.  Milne, 
1837,  11  Peters,  102,  but  no  more.  Here  the  claim  is  not  a  fee  or 
toll  for  some  service  rendered,  nor  a  license  to  become  citizens. 
It  is  by  no  means  a  fact  that  most  of  the  foreigners  who  after 
wards  become  paupers  remain  in  the  seaports.  This  tax  is  found 
ed  on  the  claim  of  power  in  a  State  to  exclude  all  persons  from 
passing  through  her  territory.  The  same  power,  if  existing,  might 
be  exercised  by  every  State  through  which  an  emigrant  was  com 
pelled  to  travel.  This  would  thwart  the  cherished  policy  of  the 
General  Government.  It  is  not  a  necessary  appurtenant  of  the 
police  power.  The  exclusion  of  criminals  and  paupers  may  be 
necessary,  like  that  of  putrid  or  pestilential  goods,  while  that  of 
emigrants  and  sound  merchandise  is  perfectly  harmless.  The 
right  to  tax  and  exclude  does  not  follow  from  the  right  to  punish 
crimes.  Else  a  State  might  exclude  all  persons  and  all  vessels." 

"  This,"  says  McLean,  J.,  same  side,  "  is  not  a  health  law.  New 
York  vs.  Milne  does  not  sustain  this  act.  The  acts  there  under 
consideration  simply  exacted  reports  of  all  passengers,  and  im 
posed  a  penalty  for  not  reporting.  It  was  an  internal  police  regu 
lation.  It  did  not  impose  a  tax  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  intro 
duction  of  passengers.  Except  to  guard  against  diseases  and 
paupers,  a  State  cannot  prohibit  the  introduction  of  foreigners. 
It  may  deny  them  a  residence  unless  they  shall  give  security  to 


Diss« 


nionB. 


176  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

indemnify  the  public  should  they  become  paupers."  (Grove  vs. 
Slaughter,  15  Pet.,  549.)  "  The  police  power  of  the  States  cannot 
draw  within  its  jurisdiction  objects  which  lie  beyond  it." 

"  The  police  powrer,"  says  Catron,  J.,  same  side,  "  proves  too 
much,  and  does  not  apply  to  persons  in  good  health  and  of  good 
character.  The  object  cannot  sanctify  the  means.  The  act  is  not 
in  execution  of  any  supposed  State  right  to  exclude  all  aliens,  be 
cause  nothing  of  the  sort  is  attempted.  ~No  such  right  exists ;  it 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  exclusive  right  of  Congress  to 
make  war,  peace,  and  treaties,  regulate  commerce,  and  naturalize 
aliens.  The  persons  and  property  taxed  had  not  yet  come  under 
State  jurisdiction,  because  they  could  not  be  taxed  without  tax 
ing  either  tonnage  or  imports." 

"  The  States,"  says  Wayne,  J.,  same  side,  "  have  given  away 
all  control  of  commerce,  except  that  of  regulating  internal  trade. 
The  motive  cannot  save  a  law  if  it  practically  operates  in  a  regu 
lation  of  commerce.  Milne's  case  established  no  more  than  the 
right  of  each  State  to  be  informed  of  the  name  and  quality  of  every 
foreigner  that  arrives.  The  States  have  retained  no  more  police 
power  than  is  necessary  to  their  internal  government.  Ko  point 
was  ruled  in  Milne's  case  which  gives  any  support  to  the  law  now 
in  question.  The  fear  that  the  decision  (of  the  majority)  will  be 
held  to  prevent  the  slave  States  from  forbidding  the  introduction 
of  freedmen  from  the  West  Indies  is  unfounded.  That  case 
would  be  an  exception  to  the  present  rule,  because  the  Constitu 
tion  must  be  interpreted  according  to  its  subject-matter.  The 
fundamental  idea  was,  that  slavery  should  remain  undisturbed  by 
the  Federal  Government.  What  had  the  majority  of  the  judges 
in  Milne's  case  was  the  point  that  the  duty  to  report  was  a 
police  regulation,  and,  therefore,  not  unconstitutional.  The  court 
never  intended,  in  Milne's  case,  to  derogate  from  Gibbons  vs. 
°pi-  Ogden  or  Brown  vs.  Maryland."  The  dissenting  opinions,  how 
ever,  assume  exactly  contrary  grounds.  "  The  fundamental 
question,"  says  Taney,  C.  J.  (p.  464),  "  is :  Has  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  power  to  compel  States  to  receive,  and  suffer  to  mingle 
with  its  citizens,  any  person  or  class  of  persons  ?  I  had  thought 
the  negative  established  by  Holmes  vs.  Jennison,  14  Peters,  540  ; 
Grove  vs.  Slaughter,  15  Peters,  449;  Prigg  vs.  The  Common- 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  177 

wealth,  1G  Peters,  539.  These  cases  decide  that  the  States  have 
the  power  to  expel  and  exclude.  There  can  be  no  concurrent 
power  respecting  such  a  subjectrinatter.  Such  a  power  is  neces 
sarily  discretionary.  Massachusetts  fears  foreign  paupers;  Mis 
sissippi,  free  negroes.  The  rightfulness  of  taking  bonds  is  in 
controvertible — self-defence  against  European  almshouses.  The 
Constitution  does  not  distinguish  between  different  grades  of 
aliens.  We  cannot  enquire  whether  their  persons  were  paupers 
or  not.  The  Act  of  Congress  of  1819  keeps  carefully  within 
Federal  jurisdiction.  It  says  nothing  about  the  landing  of  pas 
sengers,  nor  about  their  health  or  condition,  which  it  would 
have  done  had  it  meant  to  vindicate  a  right  to  landing  anybody. 
This  act  of  Massachusetts  only  exacts  security  against  pauper 
ism.  We  cannot  admit  emancipated  slaves.  This  act  of  New 
York  is  a  quarantine  law,  and  no  more.  The  provisions  for 
making  it  self-supporting  are  legitimate  incidents." 

Kelson,  J.,  fully  concurred  with  Taney,  C.  J.  "  States,"  says 
Woodbury,  J.,  also  of  the  minority,  "may  keep  off  foreign  paupers, 
even  paupers  from  other  States."  (Eevised  Statutes  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  chapter  67 ;  5  Howard,  629  ;  Colonial  Charter  of  Massachu 
setts,  1639,  p.  113,  and  1692,  p.  252).  Indemnity  from  ship 
masters  has  been  required  in  Massachusetts  since  1701,  and  has 
assumed  its  present  form  in  1837,  after  the  Milne  decision. 
The  present  measure  is  one  of  police  regulation,  and  fair.  The 
money  is  wholly  applied  to  the  support  of  foreign  paupers.  That 
money  is  called  for  as  security,  and  not  a  bond,  is  no  objection. 
Police  measures  have  not  been  ceded  to  the  Federal  Government, 
but  are  open  to  the  States,  if  honestly  administered  as  such 
(License  cases,  5  Howard,  624;  Baldwin's  Yiews,  184-188;  United 
States  vs.  Bedford  Bridge,  1  Wood  vs.  Minn,  423).  The  principle 
was  settled  in  Milne.  All  governments  may  exclude  foreigners 
(Yattel,  chapter  19,  §  201 ;  5  Howard,  328).  The  alien  act 
(June  17,  1798,  1  St.  at  L'.,  571)  was  considered  unconstitu 
tional,  because  it  was  believed  this  right  had  not  been  surrendered 
(4  Elliott,  Debates,  581,  Virginia  Kesolutions  of  1798).  The 
old  Congress  in  1787,  after  the  adoption  of  the  present  Con 
stitution,  requested  the  States  to  exclude  foreign  malefactors.  As 
against  foreigners,  the  States  have  never  surrendered  this  power. 


178  IMMIGRATION  AS  AFFECTED  BY  THE 

Power  cannot  be  taken  from  the  States  by  mere  implication.  Con 
gress  has  no  power  to  maintain  paupers.  Poor-laws  belong  to  the 
States  (Vanderbilt  vs.  Adams,  7  Wendel,  349  ;  1  Blackstone's 
Com.,  by  Tucker,  249),  although  not  strictly  referable  to  sanitary  or 
other  police.  The  States  have  exclusive  power  to  lay  taxes  for  the 
support  of  paupers  (9Wheaton,  206).  The  Constitution  of  Kentucky, 
sanctioned  by  Congress,  says  States  have  powrer  to  exclude  slaves 
as  merchandise ;  the  States  have  not  ceded  their  ports  for  taxing 
or  other  purposes. .  The  regulation  of  the  number  of  passengers 
by  Congress  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  imposition  of  terms  on 
their  landing  by  a  State  to  support  paupers,  replenish  her  treasury, 
or  exclude  criminals.  Though  the  means  may  be  very  similar, 
the  powers  are  not  identical  (Marshall,  C.  J.,  9  Wheatori,  204). 
Hides  may  be  imported,  and  yet  destroyed  by  the  State  if  noisome. 
To  recapitulate : 

ljpnoiuts! 1 1  e  d       It  must  be  regarded  as  still  unsettled— 

Whether  the  power  to  regulate  foreign  and  inter-State  com 
merce  is  vested  in  Congress  to  the  exclusion  of  the  States. 

Whether  a  State  law  passed  for  a  legitimate  purpose,  or 
whether  a  State  tax,  not  otherwise  objectionable,  is  unconstitu 
tional,  if  it  tends  incidentally  to  regulate  foreign  or  inter-State 
commerce. 

Whether  taxes  or  imports  are  intended,  by  the  Constitution, 
to  be  included  among  regulations  of  commerce. 

"Whether  passengers  from  foreign  ports  are  in  such  a  sense  the 
subjects  of  commerce  that  taxes  imposed  on  them,  and  exacted  as 
a  prerequisite  to  their  landing,  are  regulations  of  commerce. 

Whether  passengers  from  foreign  ports,  after  their  arrival  in 
a  home  port,  but  before  landing,  are  imports. 

Whether  Congress  has  so  legislated  as  impliedly  to  regulate 
commerce  in  foreign  passengers  by  willing  that  it  shall  be  free. 

Whether  single  States  have  the  right  to  exclude  aliens  from 
their  boundaries. 

"Whether  States  may  impose  a  tax  per  head  on  passengers  from 
foreign  ports,  payable  by  the  master  before  his  being  permitted  to 
land  them. 

Whether  States  may  exact  bonds  from  ship-masters  or  others, 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  179 

conditioned  that  passengers  from  abroad,  now  in  good  health, 
shall  not  become  chargeable  as  paupers. 

Whether  States  may  circuitously  impose  a  tax,  by  first  exact 
ing  such  bonds,  and  then  permitting  them  to  be  commuted  for  a 
specified  sum  of  money. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  following  points  may  be  regarded  as 
well  settled : 

A  State  has  the  right  to  deny  foreign  paupers,  or  foreigners  Settled  points, 
likely  to  become  paupers,  a  residence  on  its  borders. 

A  State  has  jurisdiction  of  its  own  ports  for  purposes  of  port 
regulations  and  harbor  police,  sanitary  police,  quarantine  admin 
istration,  pilotage,  and  the  support,  maintenance,  and  regulation 
of  paupers,  foreign  and  domestic. 

A  State  has  the  right  to  be  informed  of  the  name  and  quality 
of  every  foreigner  coming  within  its  limits,  and  to  impose  a  penalty 
on  any  ship-master  failing  to  comply  with  a  State  law  requiring 
him  to  make  such  report. 

A  State  has  the  right  to  maintain  paupers,  foreign  and  domes 
tic,  and  to  lay  a  tax  for  that  purpose  on  foreigners  or  others,  when 
undoubtedly  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  not  imports  or  subjects 
of  commerce. 

The  Federal  Government  has  no  power  to  maintain  paupers, 
foreign  or  domestic,  or  to  levy  taxes  for  that  purpose. 

A  law  of  Congress,  regulating  commerce,  is  paramount  to 
any  State  law  purporting  or  pretending  to  do  the  same. 

A  State  law  pretending  to  subserve  a  legitimate  object  of 
State  legislation,  but  in  fact  aiming  at  and  effecting  a  disturbance 
of  commercial  regulations  made  by  Congress,  is  unconstitutional 
and  void. 

A  State  cannot  impose  a  tax  on  passengers  coming  into  its 
ports  from  the  ports  of  other  States. 

And  it  seems  to  be  the  better  opinion,  that  a  State  cannot 
legislate  for  the  regulation  of  foreign  or  inter-State  commerce  on 
the  ground  that  it  does  not  interfere  with  any  existing  act  of 
Congress. 


APPENDIX 


I.  SUFFERINGS  OF  EMIGRANTS  WHILE  AT  SEA. 


REPORT    OF    ANDREAS    GEYER,    JR., 

ON  THE  CONDITION  OF  GERMAN  REDEMPTIONERS  ON  BOARD  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
SHIP  GENERAL  WAYNE,  CAPTAIN  JOHN  CONKLIN,  ADDRESSED,  ON  APRIL  27.  1805, 
TO  HON.  H.  MUHLENBERG,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  GERMAN  SOCIETY  OF  PHILADEL 
PHIA.' 

SIR  :  Having  just  returned  from  the  errand  sent  upon  by  you  and  the  other 
officers  of  the  German  Society,  relative  to  the  German  Redemptioners  lately 
arrived  at  Perth  Amboy,  I  have  thought  proper  without  loss  of  time  to  commu 
nicate  to  you  in  writing,  for  your  and  their  information,  how  far  I  proceeded 
with  the  business  entrusted  me,  respecting  the  said  German  redemptioners. 

I  left  the  city  on  Friday  last,  and  in  the  evening  arrived  at  New  Brunswick, 
when  I  waited  on  Mr.  Robert  Eastburn,  and  presented  him  the  letter  you  ad 
dressed  him.  Mr.  Eastburn  appears  to  be  a  gentleman  of  humanity  and  of  feeling. 
After  he  read  the  letter,  he  observed  a  willingness  to  accompany  me  to  Amboy  ; 
he  did  so  the  next  morning,  as  also  did  Mr.  Kladey.  Both  of  them  behaved 
with  the  greatest  politeness  towards  me,  and  with  great  liberality  towards  the 
German  Redemptioners  at  Amboy.  Immediately  on  our  arrival  at  Amboy  we 
went  to  the  river  with  an  intention  of  going  on  board  the  ship  General  Wayne, 
or  with  an  expectation  of  seeing  some  of  the  redemptioners  on  shore.  How 
ever,  we  saw  none  of  them  at  the  time,  and  the  ship  was  weighing  anchor,  and 
soon  after  set  sail  for  New  York.  By  enquiry  we  found  the  passengers  were 
deposited  in  the  Jail  of  Amboy,  however  not  closely  confined,  having  permis 
sion  granted  them  by  the  agent  to  walk  about  the  place  or  town.  From  what 
I  could  learn,  the  captain  began  to  be  uneasy,  as  some  of  the  inhabitants  had 
spoken  to  him  with  respect  to  the  malconduct  exercised  by  him  towards  those 
unhappy  beings,  and  resolved  to  leave  Amboy  and  go  to  New  York. 

I  went  to  visit  those  unfortunate  people,  and  in  truth  they  may  be  called 
unfortunate.  And  I  must  confess  I  have  seen  a  number  of  vessels  at  Philadel 
phia  with  redemptioners,  but  never  did  I  see  such  a  set  of  miserable  beings  in 
my  life.  Death,  to  make  use  of  the  expression,  appeared  to  be  staring  them  in 

*  Copied  by  the  author  from  the  Records  of  the  German  Society  in  Philadelphia.  The  Eng 
lish  of  the  original  has  not  been  changed. 


184  APPENDIX. 

the  face.  The  complaints  were  numerous  which  they  made  against  the  cap 
tain  respecting  the  bad  treatment  they  received  from  him  on  and  during  the 
passage.  The  complaints  which  I  conceive  are  of  the  greatest  importance  I 
shall  briefly  state.  My  intention  was  to  have  had  them  confirmed  with  their 
oaths,  but  as  they  are  made  by  every  one  of  the  passengers  I  thought  it  unne 
cessary.  They  are  that  they  left  Hamburg  some  time  in  November  last,  and 
arrived  at  Tonningen,  where  lay  the  ship  General  Wayne,  John  Conklin,  Mas 
ter,  bound  for  New  York,  with  whom  they  entered  into  a  certain  agreement,  on 
condition  that  he,  the  said  Conklin,  would  take  them  to  New  York,  that  during 
the  passage  they  should  be  allowed  a  certain  quantity  of  bread,  meat,  peas,  fish, 
vinegar,  butter,  potatoes,  tobacco,  etc.,  as  also  a  dram  in  the  morning,  as  will 
appear  by  a  reference  to  the  agreement  itself,  each  passenger  having  one. 
About  fourteen  days  after  they  left  Tonningen  they  put  into  an  English  port 
near  Portsmouth,  where  they  remained  about  four  weeks  ;  that  during  that 
time  a  British  recruiting  officer  came  on  board  the  ship,  when  the  captain  in 
formed  them  that  they  now  had  an  opportunity  of  enlisting,  that  those  who  so 
chose  to  do  might,  as  the  recruiting  officer  was  on  board  the  ship.  Ten  men 
consented,  and  entered  their  names,  giving  to  the  other  passengers  their  rea 
sons  for  so  doing,  namely,  that,  having  been  already  put  on  allowance  by  the 
captain,  they  were  apprehensive  that,  should  they  stay  on  board  the  ship,  they 
should  be  starved  before  they  arrived  in  America.  Amongst  those  that  enlisted 
jWas  a  man  who  had  a  wife  and  child  on  board  the  ship  ;  that  eight  days  after 
they  had  thus  entered  their  names  they  were  taken  from  the  ship  by  the  re 
cruiting  officer,  although  some  of  them  wished  to  withdraw  their  names,  but  to 
no  effect ;  go  they  must.  The  woman  and  her  child  are  now  at  Amboy,  la 
menting  the  loss  of  the  husband  and  father. 

On  the  last  day  of  their  remaining  in  this  British  port,  the  same  recruiting 
officer  came  the  third  time  on  board  the  ship,  when  the  mate  called  four  or 
five  of  the  passengers  by  name,  and  told  them,  in  the  presence  of  the  captain, 
they  must  be  soldiers  and  go  with  the  officer.  They  replied  they  had  no  inten 
tion  of  being  soldiers,  they  wished  to  go  to  America  ;  whereupon  the  captain 
and  mate  seized  one  of  them  by  name  Samuel  Yogel,  and  threw  him  into  the 
boat  belonging  to  the  recruiting  officer,  which  was  alongside  of  the  ship. 
However,  Vogel  got  back  again  into  the  ship,  went  below,  and  hid  himself,  but 
was  again  compelled  to  come  forward  with  his  clothes,  when  the  recruiting 
officer,  observing  him  weep,  declared  he  would  not  have  him,  and  left  the  ship, 
mentioning  that  he  should  not  have  again  come  on  board  had  not  the  captain, 
the  day  before,  pressed  him  so  to  do.  The  captain  was  highly  dissatisfied  with 
these  men  for  refusing  to  go,  and  declared  that  they  should  not  have  anything 
to  eat  on  board  the  ship,  that  they  might  starve,  and  ordered  one  of  them  to  be 
flogged  for  refusing,  which  was  performed,  too,  in  a  cruel  manner.  That  the 
whole  of  the  passengers,  when  at  this  British  port,  complained  to  the  captain 
that  the  treatment  they  received  was  not  such  as  was  agreed  to  between  them 
at  Tonningen.  He  replied  they  were  not  then  in  Tonningen,  neither  were  they 
in  America,  but  in  England.  They  then  set  sail,  and  after  fourteen  days  had 
elapsed  the  captain  informed  them  that  they  would  get  nothing  to  eat  except 
bread  and  meat.  After  this  each  person  received  two  biscuits,  one  pint  of  water, 


APPENDIX.  185 

and  the  eighth  part  of  a  pound  of  meat  per  day.  This  regulation  continued  for 
two  or  three  weeks,  when  they  one  and  all  declared  they  could  not  any  longer 
exist  on  the  small  allowance  they  received  ;  that  they  must,  without  doubt,  per 
ish.  The  hunger  and  thirst  being  at  this  time  so  great,  and  the  children  con 
tinually  crying  out  for  bread  and  drink,  some  of  the  men,  resolved,  at  all  events, 
to  procure  bread,  broke  open  the  apartment  wherein  it  was  kept,  and  took  some. 
This  was  discovered  by  the  captain,  as  were  also  those  who  did  the  same,  when 
each  of  them  was  ordered  to,  and  actually  did,  receive,  after  being  first  tied,  a 
number  of  lashes  on  their  bare  backs  well  laid  on.  The  whole  of  the  passen 
gers  were  also  punished  for  this  offence.  The  men  received  no  bread,  the 
women  but  one  biscuit.  This  continued  for  nine  days,  when  the  men  were 
again  allowed  one  biscuit  per  day  ;  however,  the  captain  would  at  least  make  or 
proclaim  a  fast  day.  In  this  situation  their  condition  became  dreadful,  so  much 
so  that  five  and  twenty  men,  women,  and  children  actually  perished  for  the 
want  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life,  in  short,  for  the  want  of  bread.  The 
latter  were  ten  in  number,  all  at  the  time  at  the  breasts  of  their  mothers.  The 
hunger  was  so  great  on  board  that  all  the  bones  about  the  ship  were  hunted  up 
by  them,  pounded  with  a  hammer  and  eaten ;  and  what  is  more  lamentable, 
some  of  the  deceased  persons,  not  many  hours  before  their  death,  crawled  on 
their  hands  and  feet  to  the  captain,  and  begged  him,  for  God's  sake,  to  give 
them  a  mouthful  of  bread  or  a  drop  of  water  to  keep  them  from  perishing,  but 
their  supplications  were  in  vain  ;  he  most  obstinately  refused,  and  thus  did  they 
perish.  The  cry  of  the  children  for  bread  was,  as  I  am  informed,  so  great  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  man  to  describe  it,  nor  can  the  passengers  believe 
that  any  other  person  excepting  Captain  Conklin  would  be  found  whose  heart 
would  not  have  melted  with  compassion  to  hear  those  little  inoffensive  ones  cry 
for  bread.  The  number  of  passengers,  when  the  ship  arrived  at  Amboy, 
amounted  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-two.  Fifty-one  remain  there  still ;  the 
others  have  been  disposed  of. 

The  passengers  further  state  that  they  did  not  receive  the  tobacco,  the  fish, 
nor  the  potatoes,  as  they  ought  to  have  received,  and  which  they  were  entitled 
to  as  by  their  contract  with  the  captain,  neither  did  they  receive  their  dram  but 
four  or  five  times  during  their  passage,  and  no  butter  after  they  left  the  British 
port  until  within  three  or  four  days  ago. 

The  foregoing  are  the  principal  causes  of  complaint,  and  indeed  they  appear 
very  serious  ones  too  to  me.  However,  I  having  heard  those  complaints,  and 
understanding  from  a  number  of  citizens  of  Amboy  that  the  captain's  intention 
was  to  take  the  ship  to  New  York,  leave  her,  as  also  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  go  to  his  native  State,  Rhode  Island,  I  wras  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to  act  or 
what  to  do,  as  my  instructions  were  not  for  New  York.  However,  after  reflec 
tion  I  determined  to  push  on  for  New  York,  and  there  inform  the  German  Soci 
ety  of  his  conduct.  I  did  so,  and  on  Sunday  arrived  there,  when,  after  some  lit 
tle  enquiry,  I  found  the  President  of  the  society,  Mr.  Philip  I.  Arcularius.  To 
him  I  communicated  the  whole  of  this  disagreeable  affair.  His  feelings  can  be 
more  easily  conceived  than  described.  He,  however,  gave  directions  to  have 
the  officers  of  the  society  summoned  to  meet  the  next  day,  which  was  done,  and 
they  all  attended,  excepting  one  of  the  assistants,  and,  after  hearing  the  circum- 


186  APPENDIX. 

» 

stances  relative  to  those  unfortunate  people,  they  appointed  three  of  their 
members,  officers,  to  act  in  such  way  as  they  should,  after  taking  legal  advice, 
think  best  to  bring  the  captain  to  that  punishment  which  his  conduct  should 
merit. 


THE  IRISH  EXODUS. 

From  Maguire's  "  Irish  in  America." 

I  HAVE  more  than  once  referred  to  the  unfavorable  circumstances  under 
which  the  vast  majority  of  the  Irish  arrived  in  America,  and  the  difficulties 
with  which,  in  a  special  degree,  they  had  to  contend  ;  but  the  picture  would  be 
most  imperfect  were  not  some  reference  made  to  the  disastrous  emigration  of 
the  years  1847  and  1848 — to  that  blind  and  desperate  rush  across  the  Atlantic 
known  and  described,  and  to  be  recognized  for  time  to  come,  as  the  Irish 
Exodus.  We  shall  confine  our  present  reference  to  the  emigration  to  Canada, 
and  track  its  course  up  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  glance  even  at  a 
single  quarantine — that  of  Grosse  Isle,  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  about  thirty  miles 
below  Quebec — while  affording  a  faint  idea  of  the  horrors  crowded  into  a  few 
months,  may  enable  the  reader  to  understand  with  what  alarm  the  advent  of 
the  Irish  was  regarded  by  the  well-to-do  colonists  of  British  America ;  and  how 
the  natural  terror  they  inspired,  through  the  terrible  disease  brought  with 
them  across  the  ocean,  deepened  the  prejudice  against  them,  notwithstanding 
that  their  sufferings  and  misery  appealed  to  the  best  sympathies  of  the  human 
heart.  .  ^ 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1847,  the  Urania,  from  Cork,  with  several  hundred  im 
migrants  on  board,  a  large  proportion  of  them  sick  and  dying  of  the  ship-fever, 
was  put  into  quarantine  at  Grosse  Isle.  This  was  the  first  of  the  plague-smit 
ten  ships  from  Ireland  which  that  year  sailed  up  the  St. 'Lawrence.  But  before 
the  first  week  of  June  as  many  as  eighty-four  ships  of  various  tonnage  were 
driven  in  by  an  easterly  wind  ;  and  of  that  enormous  number  of  vessels  there 
was  not  one  free  from  the  taint  of  malignant  typhus,  the  offspring  of  famine 
and  of  the  foul  ship-hold.  This  fleet  of  vessels  literally  reeked  with  pestilence. 
All  sailing-vessels — the  merciful  speed  of  the  well-appointed  steamer  being 
unknown  to  the  emigrant  of  those  days — a  tolerably  quick  passage  occupied 
from  six  to  eight  weeks  ;  while  passages  of  ten  or  twelve  weeks,  and  even  a 
longer  time,  were  not  considered  at  all  extraordinary  at  a  period  when  craft  of 
every  kind,  the  most  unsuited  as  well  as  the  least  seaworthy,  were  pressed  into 
the  service  of  human  deportation. 

Who  can  imagine  the  horrors  of  even  the  shortest  passage  in  an  emigrant 
ship  crowded  beyond  its  utmost  capability  of  stowage  with  unhappy  beings  of 
all  ages,  with  fever  raging  in  their  midst  ?  Under  the  most  favorable  circum 
stances  it  is  impossible  to  maintain  perfect  purity  of  atmosphere  between  decks, 


APPENDIX.  187 

even  when  ports  are  open,  and  every  device  is  adopted  to  secure  the  greatest 
amount  of  ventilation.  But  a  crowded  emigrant  sailing-ship  of  twenty  years 
since,  with  fever  on  board  ! — the  crew  sullen  or  brutal  from  very  desperation, 
or  paralyzed  with  terror  of  the  plague — the  miserable  passengers  unable  to 
help  themselves,  or  afford  the  least  relief  to  each  other ;  one-fourth,  or  one- 
third,  or  one-half  of  the  entire  number  in  different  stages  of  the  disease  ;  many 
dying,  some  dead  ;  the  fatal  poison  intensified  by  the  indescribable  foulness  of 
the  air  breathed  and  rebreathed  by  the  gasping  sufferers — the  wails  of  chil 
dren,  the  ravings  of  the  delirious,  the  cries  and  groans  of  those  in  mortal 
agony  !  Of  the  eighty-four  emigrant  ships  that  anchored  at  Grosse  Isle  in  the 
summer  of  1847,  there  was  not  a  single  one  to  which  this  description  might  not 
rightly  apply. 

The  authorities  were  taken  by  surprise,  owing  to  the  sudden  arrival  of  this 
plague-smitten  fleet,  and,  save  the  sheds  that  remained  since  1832,  there  was  no 
accommodation  of  any  kind  on  the  island.  These  sheds  were  rapidly  filled 
with  the  miserable  people,  the  sick  and  the  dying,  and  round  their  walls  lay 
groups  of  half-naked  men,  women,  and  children,  in  the  same  condition — sick  or 
dying.  Hundreds  were  literaUy  flung  on  the  beach,  left  amid  the  mud  and 
stones,  to  crawl  on  the  dry  land  as  they  could.  "  I  have  seen,"  says  the  priest 
who  was  then  chaplain  of  the  quarantine,  and  who  had  been  but  one  year  on 
the  mission,  "  I  have  one  day  seen  thirty-seven  people  lying  on  the  beach, 
crawling  on  the  mud,  and  dying  like  fish  out  of  water."  Many  of  these,  and 
many  more  besides,  gasped  out  their  last  breath  on  that  fatal  shore,  not  able  to 
drag  themselves  from  the  slime  in  which  they  lay.  Death  was  doing  its  work 
everywhere — in  the  sheds,  around  the  sheds,  where  the  victims  lay  in  hundreds 
under  the  canopy  of  heaven,  and  in  the  poisonous  holds  of  the  plague-ships,  all 
of  which  were  declared  to  be  and  treated  as  hospitals.  • 

From  ship  to  ship  the  young  Irish  priest  carried  the  consolations  of  religion 
to  the  dying.  Amidst  shrieks,  and  groans,  and  wild  ravings,  and  heart-rending 
lamentations — over  prostrate  sufferers  in  every  stage  of  the  sickness — from 
loathsome  berth  to  loathsome  berth,  he  pursued  his  holy  task.  So  noxious  was 
the  pent-up  atmosphere  of  these  floating  pest-houses,  that  he  had  frequently  to 
rush  on  deck,  to  breathe  the  pure  air  or  to  relieve  his  overtaxed  stomach ; 
then  he  would  again  plunge  into  the  foul  den,  and  resume  his  interrupted 
labors. 

There  being,  at  first,  no  organization,  no  staff,  no  available  resources,  it  may 
be  imagined  why  the  mortality  rose  to  a  prodigious  rate,  and  how  at  one  time 
as  many  as  150  bodies,  most  of  them  in  a  half-naked  state,  would  be  piled  up 
in  the  dead-house,  awaiting  such  sepulture  as  a  huge  pit  could  afford.  Poor 
creatures  would  crawl  out  of  the  sheds,  and,  being  too  exhausted  to  return, 
would  be  found  lying  in  the  open  air,  not  a  few  of  them  rigid  in  death.  When 
the  authorities  were  enabled  to  erect  sheds  sufficient  for  the  reception  of  the 
Brck,  and  provide  a  staff  of  physicians  and  nurses,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Que 
bec  had  appointed  a  number  of  priests,  who  took  the  hospital  duty  in  turn, 
there  was  of  course  more  order  and  regularity  ;  but  the  mortality  was  for  a 
time  scarcely  diminished.  The  deaths  were  as  many  as  100  and  150  and  even 
200  a  day,  and  this  for  a  considerable  period  during  the  summer.  The  masters 


188  APPENDIX. 

of  the  quarantine-bound  ships  were  naturally  desirous  of  getting  rid  as  speedi 
ly  as  possible  of  their  dangerous  and  unprofitable  freight ;  and  the  manner  in 
which  the  helpless  people  were  landed  or  thrown  on  the  island  aggravated 
their  sufferings,  and  in  a  vast  number  of  instances  precipitated  their  fate. 
Then  the  hunger  and  thirst  from  which  they  suffered  in  the  badly  found  ships, 
between  whose  crowded  and  stifling  decks  they  had  been  so  long  pent  up,  had 
so  far  destroyed  their  vital  energy  that  they  had  but  little  chance  of  life  when 
once  struck  down. 

About  the  middle  of  June  the  young  chaplain  was  attacked  by  the  pesti 
lence.  For  ten  days  he  had  not  taken  off  his  clothes,  and  his  boots,  which  he 
constantly  wore  for  all  that  time,  had  to  be  cut  from  his  feet.  A  couple  of 
months  elapsed  before  he  resumed  his  duties  ;  but  when  he  returned  to  his 
post  of  danger  the  mortality  was  still  of  fearful  magnitude.  Several  priests,  a 
few  Irish,  the  majority  French  Canadians,  caught  the  infection ;  and  of  the 
twenty-five  who  were  attacked,  seven  paid  with  their  lives  the  penalty  of  their 
devotion.  Not  a  few  of  these  men  were  professors  in  colleges ;  but  at  the 
appeal  of  the  Archbishop  they  left  their  classes  and  their  studies  for  the  horrors 
and  perils  of  the  fever  sheds. 

It  was  not  until  the  1st  of  November  that  the  quarantine  of  Grosse  Isle  was 
closed.  Upon  that  barren  isle  as  many  as  10,000  of  the  Irish  race  were  con 
signed  to  the  grave-pit.  By  some  the  estimate  is  made  much  higher,  and 
12,000  is  considered  nearer  the  actual  number.  A  register  was  kept,  and  is 
still  in  existence,  but  it  does  not  commence  earlier  than  June  16,  when  the 
mortality  was  nearly  at  its  height.  According  to  this  death-roll,  there  were 
buried,  between  the  16th  and  30th  of  June,  487  Irish  immigrants  "  whose 
names  could  not  be  ascertained."  In  July,  941  were  thrown  into  nameless 
graves ;  and  in  August,  918  were  entered  in  the  register  under  the  comprehen 
sive  description — "  unknown."  There  were  interred,  from  the  16th  of  June  to 
the  closing  of  the  quarantine  for  tliat  year,  2,905  of  a  Christian  people,  whose 
names  could  not  be  discovered  amidst  the  confusion  and  carnage  of  that  fatal 
summer.  In  the  following  year  2,000  additional  victims  were  entered  in  the 
same  register,  without  name  or  trace  of  any  kind  to  tell  who  they  were  or 
whence  they  had  come.  Thus  5,000  out  of  the  total  number  of  victims  were 
simply  described  as  "  unknown." 


REPORT  ON  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  SHIP  LEIBNITZ, 
OF  SLOMAN'S  HAMBURG  LINE. 

EMIGRANT  LANDING  DEPOT,  AND  OFFICES  OF  THE 
COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION,  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

CASTLE  GARDEN,  NEW  YORK,  Jan.  22, 1868. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  held 
Wednesday,  the  22d  day  of  January,  1868,  the  Vice-President,  Frederick  S. 


APPENDIX.  189 

Winston,  Esq.,  in  the  chair,  and  a  quorum  being  present,  the  following  resolu 
tions  were,  on  motion,  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Report  of  Commissioners  Kapp  and  Bissinger,  in  relation 
to  the  mortality  on  the  sailing-ship  Leibnitz,  be  accepted  and  adopted,  and  be 
referred  to  the  Special  Committee,  Messrs.  Kapp,  O'Gorman,  and  Bissinger,  and 
said  Committee  be  requested  to  draft  a  bill,  subject  to  the  approval  of  this 
Board,  to  be  presented  to  Congress  for  adoption. 

Resolved,  That  official  copies  of  the  Report  be  transmitted  to  the  Honorables 
the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  Baron  Von 
Gerolt,  as  the  Diplomatic  Representative  of  the  North  German  Confederation, 
to  the  Consul-Generals  of  Prussia  and  Mecklenburg,  and  to  the  daily  press  of 
this  city. 

Resolved,  That  one  thousand  copies  of  the  above  Report  be  printed  for  cir 
culation. 

The  following  is  the  Report  of  Messrs.  Kapp  and  Bissinger,  referred  to  in 
the  foregoing  resolutions : 

To  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration  : 

GENTLEMEN:  Although  not  expressly  authorized,  yet,  because  the  emer 
gency  arose  since  your  last  meeting,  the  undersigned  deemed  it  their  duty  to 
go  on  board  the  ill-fated  ship  Leibnitz,  and  to  enquire  into  the  condition  of  her 
passengers  transferred  to  the  hospital-ship  Illinois,  in  the  Lower  Bay. 

Dr.  Swinburne,  the  Health  Officer,  kindly  placed  the  steamer  Fletcher  at 
our  disposal.  On  Wednesday,  Jan.  15,  we  went  down  the  bay,  accompanied, 
among  others,  by  the  physicians  of  the  German  Society,  Drs.  Pieper,  Schwar- 
zenberg,  and  Krause,  who  volunteered  their  services  for  the  examination  of  the 
cause  of  the  sickness. 

The  Leibnitz,  originally  the  Van  Comer,  is  a  large  and  fine  vessel,  built  at 
Boston  for  the  China  trade,  and  formerly  plying  between  that  port  and  China. 
She  was  sold  some  years  ago  to  the  house  of  Robert  M.  Sloman,  and  has  since 
sailed  under  her  present  name. 

We  were  informed  that  her  last  trip  was  her  second  with  emigrants  on 
board.  Last  summer,  she  went  to  Quebec  with  about  seven  hundred  passengers, 
of  whom  she  lost  only  a  few  on  her  passage ;  this  time,  she  left  Hamburg, 
Nov.  2,  1867,  Capt.  H.  F.  Bornhold,  lay  at  Cuxhaven,  on  account  of  head-winds, 
until  the  llth,  whereupon  she  took  the  southern  course  to  New  York.  She 
went  by  the  way  of  Madeira,  down  to  the  Tropics,  20th  degree,  and  arrived  in 
the  Lower  Bay  on  Jan.  11,  1868,  after  a  passage  of  61  days,  or  rather  70  days — 
at  least,  as  far  as  the  passengers  are  concerned,  who  were  confined  to  the 
densely  crowded  steerage  for  that  length  of  time. 

The  heat,  for  the  period  that  they  were  in  the  lower  latitudes,  very  often 
reached  24  degrees  of  Reaumur,  or  94  degrees  of  Fahrenheit.  Her  passengers 
544  in  all— of  whom  395  were  adults,  103  children,  and  46  infants— came  prin 
cipally  from  Mecklenburg,  and  proposed  to  settle  as  farmers  and  laborers  in 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin  ;  besides  them,  there  were  about  40  Prussians  from 
Pomerania  and  Posen,  and  a  few  Saxons  and  Thuringians. 


190  APPENDIX. 

It  is  not  proven  by  any  fact,  that  the  cholera  (as  has  been  alleged)  raged  or 
had  raged  in  or  near  their  homes  when  or  before  they  left  them.  This 
statement  appears  to  have  been  made  by  or  in  behalf  of  those  who  have  an 
interest  in  throwing  the  origin  of  the  sickness  on  its  poor  victims.  Of  these 
544  German  passengers,  105  died  on  the  voyage,  and  three  in  port,  making  in 
all  108  deaths — leaving  436  surviving. 

The  first  death  occurred  on  Nov.  25th.  On  some  days,  as  for  instance  on 
Dec.  1,  nine  passengers  died,  and  on  Dec.  17,  eight.  The  sickness  did  not  abate 
until  toward  the  end  of  December,  and  no  new  cases  happened  when  the  ship 
had  again  reached  the  northern  latitudes ;  five  children  were  born  ;  during  the 
voyage  some  families  had  died  out  entirely ;  of  others,  the  fathers  or  mothers 
are  gone  ;  here,  a  husband  had  left  a  poor  widow,  with  small  children  ;  and 
there,  a  husband  had  lost  his  wife.  We  spoke  to  some  little  boys  and  girls, 
who,  when  asked  where  wrere  their  parents,  pointed  to  the  ocean  Avith  sobs  and 
tears,  and  cried,  "  Down  there  f" 

Prior  to  our  arrival  on  board,  the  ship  had  been  cleansed  and  fumigated 
several  times,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  remove  the  dirt,  which,  in  some  places, 
covered  the  walls.  Mr.  Frederick  Kassner,  our  able  and  experienced  Boarding 
Officer,  reports  that  he  found  the  ship  and  the  passengers  in  a  most  filthy  con 
dition,  and  that  when  boarding  the  Leibnitz  he  hardly  discovered  a  clean  spot 
on  the  ladder,  or  on  the  ropes,  where  he  could  put  his  hands  and  feet.  He 
does  not  remember  to  have  seen  anything  like  it  within  the  last  five  years- 
Captain  True,  who  likewise  boarded  the  ship  immediately  after  her  arrival,  cor 
roborates  the  statement  of  Mr.  Kassner. 

As  to  the  interior  of  the  vessel,  the  upper  steerage  is  high  and  wide.  All 
the  spars,  beams,  and  planks  which  were  used  for  the  construction  of  temporary 
berths  had  been  removed.  Except  through  two  hatchways  and  two  very  small 
ventilators,  it  had  no  ventilation,  and  not  a  single  window  or  bull's-eye  was 
open  during  the  voyage.  In  general,  however,  it  was  not  worse  than  the  aver 
age  of  the  steerages  of  other  emigrant  ships ;  but  the  lower  steerage,  the  so- 
called  orlop-deck,  is  a  perfect  pest-hole,  calculated  to  kill  the  healthiest  man. 
It  had  been  made  a  temporary  room  for  the  voyage  by  laying  a  tier  of  planks 
over  the  lower  beams  of  the  vessel,  and  they  were  so  little  supported  that  they 
shook  when  walking  on  them.  The  little  light  this  orlop-deck  received  came 
through  one  of  the  hatchways  of  the  upper-deck.  Although  the  latter  was  open 
when  we  were  on  board,  and  although  the  ship  was  lying  in  the  open  sea,  free 
from  all  sides,  it  was  impossible  to  see  anything  at  a  distance  of  two  or  three 
feet.  On  our  enquiring  how  this  hole  had  been  lighted  during  the  voyage,  we 
were  told  that  some  lanterns  had  been  up  there,  but  that  on  account  of  the 
foulness  of  the  air,  they  could  scarcely  burn.  It  had,  of  course,  much  less  than 
the  upper-deck  draft  or  ventilation,  and  was  immediately  over  the  keel,  wrhere 
the  bilge-water  collects,  and  adjoining  part  of  the  cargo,  which  consisted  of 
wool  and  hides.  And  in  this  place  about  120  passengers  were  crowded  for  70  days, 
and  for  a  greater  part  of  the  voyage  in  a  tropical  heat,  with  scanty  rations  and 
a  very  inadequate  supply  of  water,  and  worse  than  all,  suffering  from  the 
miasma  below,  above,  and  beside  them,  which  of  itself  must  create  fever  and 
pestilence ! 


APPENDIX.  191 

The  captain  himself  stated  to  us  that  the  passengers  refused  to  carry  the 
excrements  on  deck,  and  that  "  the  urine  and  ordure  of  the  upper-steerage 
flowed  down  to  the  lower."  As  the  main-deck  was  very  difficult  of  access  from 
the  orlop-deck,  the  inmates  of  the  latter  often  failed  to  go  on  deck  even  to 
attend  to  the  calls  of  nature.  There  were  only  six  water-closets  for  ;the  accom-  • 
modation  of  all  the  passengers.  They  have  been  cleansed,  of  course  ;  but  the 
smell  that  emanated  from  them  was  still  very  intense,  and  corroborates  the 
statement  of  the  above-named  officers — that  they  must  have  been  in  an  extraor 
dinary  frightful  condition. 

When  the  ship  Lord  Brougham,  belonging  to  the  same  line,  arrived  on  the 
6th  of  December  last,  from  Hamburg,  and  had  lost  75  out  of  383  passengers, 
we  personally  examined  the  majority  of  the  survivors,  and  found  them  not 
only  healthy  and  in  good  spirits,  but,  at  the  same  time,  in  every  respect  satis 
fied  with  the  treatment  they  had  received  on  board. 

The  present  case,  however,  is  different.  There  was  not  a  single  emigrant 
who  did  not  complain  of  the  captain,  aa  well  as  of  the  short  allowance  of  pro 
visions  and  water  on  board.  As  we  know,  from  a  long  experience,  that  the 
passengers  of  emigrant  ships,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  are  in  the  habit  of 
claiming  more  than  they  are  entitled  to,  we  are  far  from  putting  implicit  faith 
in  all  their  statements.  There  is  as  much  falsehood  and  exaggeration  among 
this  class  of  people  as  among  any  other  body  of  uneducated  men.  We  have, 
therefore,  taken  their  complaints  with  due  allowance,  and  report  only  so  much 
thereof  as  we  believe  to  be  well  founded. 

All  the  passengers  concur  in  the  complaint  that  their  provisions  were  short, 
partly  rotten,  and  that,  especially,  the  supply  of  water  was  insufficient,  until 
they  were  approaching  port.  We  examined  the  provisions  on  board,  and  found 
that  the  water  was  clear  and  pure.  If  the  whole  supply  during  the  voyage 
was  such  as  the  samples  handed  to  us,  there  was  no  reason  for  complaint  as  to 
quality.  But,  in  quantity,  the  complaints  of  the  passengers  are  too  well  found 
ed  ;  for  they  unanimously  state,  and  are  not  effectually  contradicted  by  the 
captain,  that  they  never  received  more  than  half  a  pint  of  drinkable  water  per 
day,  while  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States  they  were  entitled  to  receive  three 
quarts.  Some  of  the  biscuit  handed  to  us  were  rotten  and  old,  and  hardly  eat 
able  ;  other  pieces  were  better.  We  ordered  the  steward  to  open  a  cask  of  corn- 
beef,  and  found  it  of  ordinary  good  quality.  The  butter,  however,  was  rancid. 
Once  a  week  herrings  were  cooked  instead  of  meat.  The  beans  and  sauerkraut 
were  often  badly  cooked,  and,  in  spite  of  hunger,  thrown  overboard. 

The  treatment  of  the  passengers  was  heartless  in  the  extreme.  The  sick 
passengers  received  the  same  food  with  the  healthy,  and  high  prices  were  ex 
acted  for  all  extras  and  comforts.  A  regular  traffic  in  wine,  beer,  and  liquors 
was  carried  on  between  the  passengers  on  the  one  side  and  the  steward  and 
crew  on  the  other.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Frederick  Hildebrand,  from 
Wirsitz,  in  Posen,  who  lost  two  children,  paid  35  Prussian  thalers  extra  for 
beer  and  wine  to  sustain  himself  and  his  sick  wife.  A  bottle  of  rum  cost  him 
one  dollar  ;  a  bottle  of  bad  wine  even  more.  "  This  extortion,  at  such  a  time, 
cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned,"  says  Captain  True,  in  his  report,  which 
confirms  the  information  received  by  us  from  the  passengers. 


192  APPENDIX. 

When  the  first  deaths  occurred,  the  corpses  were  often  suffered  to  remain  in 
the  steerage  for  full  twenty-four  hours.  In  some  cases  the  bodies  were  covered 
with  vermin  before  they  were  removed. 

There  was  no  physician  on  board.     Although  we  found  a  large  medicine- 
'  chest,  it  was  not  large  enough  for  the  many  cases  of  sickness,  and  was,  in  fact, 
emptied  after  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  voyage. 

The  captain  seems  to  have  been  sadly  deficient  in  energy  and  authority  in 
matters  of  moment,  while  he  punished  severely  small  offences  ;  as,  for  instance, 
he  handcuffed  a  passenger  for  the  use  of  insulting  words  ;  but  he  did  not  en 
force  the  plainest  rules  for  the  health  and  welfare  of  his  passengers.  Instead 
of  compelling  them,  from  the  first,  to  come  on  deck  and  remove  the  dirt,  he 
allowed  them  to  remain  below,  and  to  perish  among  their  own  excrements. 
Of  the  whole  crew,  the  cook  alone  fell  sick  and  died,  as  he  slept  in  the  steer 
age.  Three  passenger  girls  who  were  employed  in  the  kitchen,  and  lived  on 
deck,  enjoyed  excellent  health,  during  the  whole  voyage. 

The  physicians  above  mentioned,  to  whose  report  we  refer  for  particu 
lars,  most  positively  declare  that  it  was  not  the  Asiatic  cholera,  but  intestinal  and 
stomach  catarrh  (catarrh  ventriculi  et  intestinorum),  more  or  less  severe,  and 
contagious  typhus,  which  killed  the  passengers.  From  what  we  saw  and 
learned  from  the  passengers,  we  likewise  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
shocking  mortality  on  board  the  Leibnitz  arose  from  want  of  good  ventilation, 
cleanliness,  suitable  medical  care,  sufficient  water,  and  wholesome  food. 

The  present  case  is  another  instance  of  the  mortality  on  board  the  Hamburg 
sailing-vessels,  and  increases  their  bad  reputation.  Of  917  passengers  on 
board  of  two  ships  of  the  Sloman  line,  not  less  than  183  died  within  one 
month  !  As  often  as  complaint  has  been  made  here,  it  has  not  induced  them  to 
make  any  improvement.  It  appears  that  the  Hamburg  authorities  either  did 
not  care  to  examine  the  merits  of  the  charges  brought  against  their  ships  or 
that  they  were  imposed  upon  by  their  officials.  On  the  other  hand,  local  inter 
ests,  friendly  feelings,  family  connections,  and  other  personal  considerations, 
usually  prevailing  in  small  political  communities,  seem  to  stand  in  the  way  of 
energetic  administration  of  the  police  of  emigrant  ships,  and  of  the  removal 
of  the  several  grievances.  While  the  average  deaths  that  take  place  in  the 
Bremen  sailing-vessels  amount  to  one-eighth  or  one-fourth  of  the  total  number 
of  emigrants  forwarded,  the  proportion  on  board  the  Hamburg  sailing-vessels 
is  more  than  two  per  cent.  ! ! 

Thus,  of  11,264  steerage-passengers  who  arrived,  in  1865,  in  our  port,  from 
Hamburg,  128  died  on  the  passage  ;  of  14,335  who  arrived  in  1866,  387 ;  and 
of  8,788,  in  1867,  not  less  than  199. 

In  our  opinion,  it  is  of  great  importance  for  the  interest  of  humanity,  in 
which  both  Europe  and  this  country  are  concerned,  and  as  a  matter  of  politi 
cal  economy,  that  the  transportation  of  emigrants  across  the  Atlantic  to  this 
port  should  be  confined  to  steam-vessels,  as  they  not  only  convey  the  passen 
gers  more  comfortably  and  land  them  in  better  health,  but,  in  consequence  of 
the  regularity  and  rapidity  of  the  passage,  save  an  immense  amount  of  labor 
for  their  own  benefit  and  that  of  this  country. 

We  are  sorry  to  say  that  our  laws  afford  very  inadequate  relief  for  the  pun- 


APPENDIX.  193 

iskment  of  these  crimes  against  humanity,  and  that,  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
the  institution  of  legal  proceedings  for  redress,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  guilty 
parties,  is  almost  an  impossibility. 

Much  of  the  suffering,  disease,  and  death  on  board  of  emigrant  ships  could 
have  been  prevented,  and  a  recurrence  of  such  abhorrent  scenes  might  hereafter 
be  avoided,  by  proper  enactments  of  Congress,  enforced  by  suitable  penalties. 

We  would  therefore  propose  to  petition  Congress  for  an  amendment  of  the 
Emigrant  Passengers'  Act,  of  March  3,  1855,  enacted  by  Congress  on  the  repre 
sentation  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  this  State,  incorporating  into 
the  same  the  following  provisions : 

I.  THE    APPOINTMENT   OP    A    PHYSICIAN    OR   SURGEON    ON    BOARD  OF  ALL 
EMIGRANT  VESSELS  WITH  MORE  THAN  FIFTY  PASSENGERS. — ThllS   far   there  IS 

no  law  requiring  it  in  the  statute-book  of  the  United  States.  The  failure  to 
have  on  board  a  physician,  whose  skill  and  good  character  should  be  fully 
vouched  for  by  unquestionable  evidence,  should  be  punished  by  the  infliction  of 
a  penalty  of  at  least  $5,000,  one-half  of  such  penalty  to  be  paid  over  to  the  pas 
sengers  pro  rata,  and  the  other  half  to  the  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  the  port 
of  New  York  for  the  benefif  of  the  Emigrant  Fund. 

II.  THE  DOING  AWAY  WITH    THE    ORLOP-DECK   ON   BOARD   OF   EMIGRANT 
SHIPS. — In  case  of  contravention,  the  penalty  should  be  at  least  $5,000  ;  and,  in 
addition,  passengers  roomed  in  the  orlop-deck  should  have  double  the  amount 
of  their  passage  money  refunded. 

III.  A  MORE  STRINGENT  RULE  FO7J  ENFORCING  THE  PAYMENT  OF  THE  PEN 
ALTY  FOR  THE  DEAD  PASSENGERS. — With  a  view  to  protecting  emigrants 
against  the  rapacity  of  ship-owners,  the  14th  section  of  the  present  law  requires 
the  payment  of  $10,  as  a  penalty,  for  every  passenger,  other  than  cabin  passen 
gers,  and  over  the  age  of  eight  years,  who  shall  have  died  on  the  voyage  from 
natural  disease  ;  for  the  non-payment  of  which  penalty  within  twenty-four  hours 
after  arrival,  a  further  penalty  of  $50  is  imposed,  to  be  recovered  by  the  United 
States  in  any  Circuit  or  District  Court.  Under  this  wording  of  the  law,  no  par 
ticular  officer  of  the  United  States  appears  to  be  authorized  to  prosecute  or 
enforce  the  collection,  and  consequently  many  of  the  penalties  are  not  paid,  and 
the  law,  to  some  extent,  becomes  a  dead  letter.  We  would,  therefore,  suggest 
that  the  section  be  amended  for  this. port  by  authorizing  and  directing  a  prose 
cution  by  the  District  Attorney  of  the  Southern  District,  on  complaint  being 
made  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State,  and  making  such  pen 
alties  a  lien  on  the  ship  or  vessel,  and  the  owner  or  consignee  liable  therefor. 

IV.  THE  POWER  OF  OBTAINING  REDRESS  TO  BE  LODGED  IN  THE  HANDS   OF 
THE  PARTIES  INJURED — THE  EMIGRANTS  THEMSELVES. 

V.  SUMMARY  PROCEEDINGS  FOR  THE  RECOVERY  OF  DAMAGES. 

As  to  the  two  latter  provisions,  we  would  state  that  the  efforts  which  have 
been  made  by  legislation  at  Washington  and  at  Albany  to  protect  the  lives  and 
health  of  emigrant  passengers  from  the  rapacity  of  ship-owners  have  been 


194:  APPENDIX. 

attended  with  but  a  very  limited  share  of  success.  The  regulation  to  which  the 
owners  of  ships  are  required  to  conform  are,  v\*ith  some  exceptions,  precisely 
those  called  for  by  the  exigency  of  the  case,  as  is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that 
the  accidents  and  disasters  which  continue  to  happen  are  almost  always  trace 
able  to  the  disregard  of  some  of  these  provisions  ;  but  the  fact  that  they  are  dis 
regarded  proves,  in  its  turn,  that  the  law  must  remain  a  dead  letter  until  more 
effective  remedies  are  provided  against  its  violation. 

The  Act  of  1855  provides  that,  if  some  of  its  provisions  are  violated,  the  mas 
ter  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  ;  and  that,  if  others  of  its  directions  are  not 
complied  with,  the  master  or  the  owners,  or  both,  shall  forfeit  money  penalties 
against  the  ship  by  the  authorities  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  found  that  indictments  are  not  feared,  and  that  suits  for  the  recovery  of 
penalties  are  never  instituted. 

To  make  the  law  effective,  the  power  of  obtaining  redress  must  be  lodged  in 
the  hands  of  the  emigrants  themselves. 

The  law  gives  them  an  action  against  the  ship  for  marine  torts  and  for 
breaches  of  marine  contracts  ;  but  this  action  must  be  prosecuted  through  the 
dilatory  form  of  admiralty  practice.  The  ship  is  bonded,  and  goes  on  her  way. 
The  emigrant,  poor,  friendless,  and  often  emaciated  by  disease,  is  kept  loitering 
in  a  crowded  city,  dancing  attendance  on  the  delays  of  litigation,  while  the 
Western  fields,  which  he  came  to  till,  lie  fallow.  The  loss  falls  immediately  on 
himself,  but  indirectly  likewise  on  the  entire  country,  which  receives  and  de 
tains  a  languishing  pauper,  when  it  needs  industrious  and  able-bodied  laborers. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  authorize  a  summary  proceeding,  simple  and  ex 
peditious,  such  as  the  case  of  the  emigrant  requires.  A  commissioner  should  be 
appointed  for  the  especial  purpose  of  hearing  and  passing  upon  these  com 
plaints.  He  might  be  appointed  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  under 
the  precedent  established  in  the  case  of  the  Register  in  Bankruptcy.  His  au 
thority,  however,  must  be  to  hear  and  determine.  An  appeal  from  his  decision 
should  not  operate  to  supersede  execution  upon  his  judgment ;  but  the  losing 
party  should  be  cast  upon  his  chances  of  obtaining  restitution. 

It  will  also  be  necessary  to  establish  certain  principles  of  remedial  law,  not 
now  considered  established. 

The  owner  of  a  ship  should  be  made  responsible  in  damages  to  the  natural 
representatives  of  persons  dying  in  the  course  of  a  voyage  from  causes  produced 
by  misconduct  of  such  owner,  or  his  agent.  Such  claims  must  be  declared  liens 
on  the  ship,  recoverable  by  action  in  rem  in  the  admiralty  form. 

The  contracts  to  convey  passengers  must  be  declared  contracts  of  absolute 
insurance,  not  to  be  qualified  by  written  or  printed  stipulations  dictated  by  the 
ship-owner. 

The  ship-owner  must  be  prevented  from  pleading  that  the  emigrants,  having 
seen  the  ship  when  they  came  on  board,  had  assumed  their  pwn  risks,  and  pre 
cluded  themselves  against  bringing  suit  for  damages  occasioned  by  its  imper 
fections. 

Damages  merely  compensatory  will  not  suffice  to  recompense  sufferers  for 
the  annoyance  arising  from  insufficient  food  or  air,  or  other  ill  treatment,  not 
causing  definite  pecuniary  loss. 


APPENDIX.  195 

A  stated  minimum  of  the  damages  should  be  fixed  by  law  in  such  cases,  such 
as  the  amount  of  the  passage  money,  or  of  double  or  treble  that  amount. 

We  do  not  think  that  any  of  the  legislators  of  the  nation  \vill  object  to  the 
passage  of  such  a  bill.  One  of  the  greatest  sources  of  the  nation's  income  in 
wealth  and  population  has  been  the  vast  emigration  from  Europe,  and  it  should 
therefore  be  protected  by  appropriate  national  legislation.  Every  principle  of 
public  policy,  looking  to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  as  well  as  every  sentiment 
of  humanity,  demands  this  at  the  hands  of  Congress. 

Under  the  present  system,  the  emigrants  are  treated  more  like  beasts  of  bur 
den  than  like  human  beings,  starved  and  crowded  together  in  ill-ventilated,  ill- 
fitted,  ill-supplied,  and  ill-manned  vessels. 

The  arrival  of  an  emigrant  ship  in  our  ports,  if  it  does  not  bring  disease  and 
pestilence  among  us,  often  occasions  great  apprehension  and  alarm,  disturbing 
the  regular  business  of  our  city,  and  creating  an  indefinable  prejudice  against 
the  worthy  emigrant,  instead  of  extending  to  him,  as  he  truly  deserves,  a  kind 
and  hearty  welcome. 

The  Commissioners  of  Emigration  are  the  trustees  as  well  of  the  emigrant  as 
of  the  State  of  New  York  and  of  the  United  States  in  general.  Although  ap 
pointed  by  the  State  authority  for  State  purposes,  their  line  of  duty  is  not  con 
fined  to  the  boundaries  of  the  State,  but  extends  over  the  whole  country,  inas 
much  as  they  have  to  encourage  and  protect  the  emigrant  until  he  reaches  his 
new  home.  It  would  betray  a  narrow-mindedness,  of  which  no  member  of  this 
Board  is  guilty,  if  they  did  not  look  at  emigration  from  this  national  pcint  of 
view.  Whenever  they  succeed  in  doing  away  with  a  grievance,  or  achieving  a 
result  favorable  to  the  emigrants,  it  is  a  national  gain,  and  an  advantage  won 
for  the  whole  country. 

Hence,  every  consideration  in  relation  to  the  comfort  and  protection  of  the 
emigrant  is  of  a  national  character,  and  demands  the  serious  attention  of  a  good 
and  enlightened  statesmanship. 

FRIEDRICH  KAPP, 
PHILIP  BISSINGER, 

NEW  YORK,  January  21, 1868.  Commissioners. 


II.  PROTECTION  OF  EMIGRANTS  AND  CARE  TAKEN  OF  THEM. 


REPORT    OF    THE    GRAND    JURY    OX    THE    MODE    OF    DOING 
BUSINESS    AT    CASTLE    GARDEN. 

GRAND  JURY  ROOM,  September  9, 1856. 

THE  Grand  Inquest  of  the  county  of  New  York,  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty,  have  been  called  upon  to  investigate  certain  complaints  which  have  been 
preferred  against  certain  employees  of  the  railroad  companies  doing  business 
with  the  emigrants  landing  at  Castle  Garden.  In  the  discharge  of  this  duty 
they  have  felt  called  upon  to  visit  the  Landing  Depot  itself,  with  a  view  to  give  a 
personal  inspection  to  the  mode  of  doing  business  within  its  enclosures.  The 
landing  and  despatching  of  a  cargo  of  upwards  of  400  passengers,  taking  place  at 
the  time  of  their  visit,  afforded  a  favorable  opportunity  to  watch  the  whole  pro 
ceeding.  The  passengers  were  brought  from  the  ship  on  a  barge,  towed  by  a 
steamboat,  persons  and  property  sheltered  from  the  rain  by  the  upper  deck  of 
the  barge.  They  landed  in  an  orderly  manner,  having  evidently  been  in 
structed  by  the  officers  from  Castle  Garden  as  to  the  nature  of  the  Landing  De 
pot  and  its  arrangements.  They  passed  over  the  deck,  answered  the  enquiries 
of  the  examining  physician,  whose  duty  is  to  note  cases  whose  age  or  condition 
requires  special  bonds  from  the  ship  for  their  support  in  case  of  need,  and  to  de 
tect  cases  of  sickness  which  may  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  Health  Officer  at 
Quarantine.  On  entering  the  large  rotunda  of  Castle  Garden,  they  were  regis 
tered  by  a  clerk  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  who  took  down  the  names 
of  the  heads  of  families  and  single  persons,  whence  they  came,  the  State  of 
their  destination,  their  cash  means,  and  the  relatives  (if  any)  they  were  going 
to  join.  The  annual  statistics  of  the  current  of  emigration  are  made  up  from 
these  notes.  The  passengers  then  passed  on  to  the  next  desk,  where  clerks  of 
the  Transportation  Companies  ascertained  the  places  of  destination  they  wished 
to  go,  laid  maps  of  the  various  routes  of  travel  before  them,  explained  the  differ 
ence  in  time  and  price  of  travel  by  the  various  routes  ;  and,  after  a  selection 
was  made  by  the  passengers,  provided  them  with  an  order  on  the  cashier,  set 
ting  forth  the  number  of  tickets  required,  the  route  selected,  and  the  price  of 
passage  and  of  over-freight  per  one  hundred  pounds  by  such  route.  The  cash 
ier,  on  receiving  this  order,  issued  the  class  of  tickets  it  called  for,  and  received 
the  price  therefor.  The  passengers  were  then  shown  by  a  different  way  from 
that  by  which  they  had  entered  the  rotunda  back  to  the  dock,  and  there  pro 
duced  to  the  weigh-master  the  checks  they  held  for  baggage,  which  they  had 


APPENDIX.  197 

received  on  board  of  the  vessel  which  brought  them  into  port  previous  to  pass 
ing  their  trunks  into  the  hands  of  the  officers  from  Castle  Garden.  The  proper 
ty  having  the  corresponding  checks  was  then  taken  from  the  barge  and 
weighed,  each  piece  being  labelled  with  a  conspicuous  label,  having  a  certain 
number  and  the  place  of  destination  printed  thereon,  the  passenger  receiving  a 
baggage  ticket  with  the  corresponding  number,  and  on  which  were  inserted  the 
number  of  pieces  of  baggage  delivered,  the  route  it  had  to  be  transported,  the 
gross  weight,  and  the  amount  of  freight  to  be  collected  thereon  after  deducting 
the  amount  to  which  each  passenger  is  entitled.  This  freight  was  then  paid  to 
the  collector,  having  his  office  at  the  scales,  who  copied  the  whole  ticket  into  a 
book  kept  for  reference,  and  then  receipted  for  the  money  at  the  foot  of  the 
baggage  ticket.  The  baggage  was  then  taken  on  board  of  a  steamboat  em 
ployed  to  transport  the  passengers  and  their  property,  free  of  charge,  from  Cas 
tle  Garden  to  the  starting-places  of  the  various  railroads  and  steamboat  lines ; 
and  the  passengers,  having  now  fully  prepared  themselves  at  the  usual  hour  of 
the  day,  had  ample  time  to  enjoy  themselves  in  the  depot  by  taking  their 
meals,  cleansing  themselves  in  the  spacious  bath-rooms,  or  promenading  on  the 
galleries  or  on  the  dock.  The  utmost  order  prevailed  throughout ;  every  requi 
site  information  was  given  passengers  by  officials  conversing  in  different  lan 
guages  ;  letters  from  friends  were  transmitted  to  landing  passengers,  bringing 
them  money  or  directions  how  to  proceed,  etc. 

The  Grand  Inquest,  having  thus  personally  witnessed  the  whole  mode  of 
doing  business  at  the  Landing  Depot  of  Castle  Garden,  and  having  become  sat 
isfied  that  every  care  was  taken  of  the  emigrant  that  philanthropy  could  sug 
gest,  and  devotion  to  a  good  cause,  realized  b'y  perseverance  and  daily  care, 
made  further  enquiries  about  the  arrangements  made  for  special  cases  wrhich 
might  not  then  have  arisen  or  been  witnessed  by  them.  They  learned  that  it 
is  a  frequent  occurrence  that  passengers  land  expecting  to  find  the  means  to 
pursue  their  route  into  the  interior  of  the  country  without  delay,  but  are  disap 
pointed.  In  such  cases  advances  are  made  on  the  luggage  of  passengers,  who, 
being  thus  enabled  to  escape  the  necessity  of  waiting  in  expensive  boarding- 
houses  for  communications  from  their  friends,  leave  immediately  for  their  des 
tination,  and  after  a  short  while  send  the  amount  advanced  to  them,  without 
interest  or  charge  for  storage,  and  have  their  trunks  sent  after  them.  The 
amount  of  money  saved  to  emigrant  families  by  this  beneficial  arrangement,  in 
keeping  them  out  of  boarding-houses,  is  immense  ;  for  it  embraces  not  only  the 
reasonable  board  for  a  few  days.  Before  the  establishment  of  Castle  Garden, 
emigrants  in  such  difficulties  would  go  to  a  boarding-house,  and  write  to  their 
friends  for  "  money,"  not  specifying  amounts ;  the  friends  would  send  what 
they  thought  would  pay  for  the  passage,  which  was  then  swallowed  up  by  the 
boarding-house  bill,  leaving  the  emigrant  still  without  means  to  travel.  The 
boarding-house  keeper  would  probably  extend  a  new  credit  on  the  security  of 
the  luggage  (but  not  a  cash  advance  thereon),  and  when  thus  all  the  means  of 
the  emigrant  had  been  exhausted,  he  would  be  turned  into  the  street  a  pauper, 
and  a  fit  subject  for  the  charities  of  the  public  institutions.  This  is  proved  by 
the  statistics  of  Ward's  Island  Emigrant  Refuge,  which,  at  the  time  of  the  es 
tablishment  of  Castle  Garden,  had  3,000  inmates,  whose  number  has,  in  one 


198  APPENDIX. 

year,  been  reduced  to  about  1,000 — the  protection  afforded  by  Castle  Garden 
having  cut  off  the  supply  of  paupers. 

Another  admirable  feature,  to  which  the  attention  of  the  Grand  Inquest  was 
called,  is  the  special  arrangement  of  a  large,  airy,  and  well-ventilated  room  for 
the  accommodation  of  lying-in  women,  or  such  as  have  been  confined  so  recently 
before  the  arrival  of  the  ship  as  to  require  rest  before  travelling.  They  have 
all  the  necessary  care  of  medical  attendance  and  nursing,  at  the  expense  of  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  and  are  not  under  any  necessity  of  going  to 
boarding-houses  and  expending  money  which  will  take  them  to  their  destina 
tion  as  soon  as  their  strength  is  sufficiently  established  to  bear  the  fatigues  of  a 
journey. 

On  enquiring  into  the  causes  of  certain  published  attacks  on  the  Emigrant 
Landing  Depot,  the  Grand  Inquest  have  become  satisfied  that  they  emanate,  in 
the  first  instance,  from  the  very  interested  parties  against  whose  depredations 
Castle  Garden  affords  protection  to  the  emigrant,  and  who  are  chiefly  runners, 
in  the  employ  of  booking-agents,  boarding-house  keepers,  and  others,  who  have 
lost  custom  by  the  establishment  of  a  central  depot,  where  the  railroad  compa 
nies  have  their  own  business  done  by  their  own  clerks,  and  without  the  exten 
sive  intervention  of  passage  brokers,  etc. 

This  class  has  thrown  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  proper  develop 
ment  of  affairs  in  Castle  Garden,  by  constituting  a  noisy  crowd  around  the 
gates,  whose  behavior  is  utterly  lawless,  and  endangers  the  personal  safety  not 
Jonly  of  the  passengers  who  have  to  leave  Castle  Garden  to  transact  business  in 
the  city,  but  also  the  employees  of  the  Landing  Depot,  and  of  individual  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration,  who  are  continually  insulted  in  the  public  grounds 
surrounding  the  depot,  and  have  been  obliged  to  carry  loaded  fire-arms  in  self- 
defence  against  the  violence  which  has  frequently  been  offered  to  them. 

This  same  class  will  swarm  in  boats  around  the  ships  in  the  bay,  and  bias 
the  minds  of  passengers  against  the  Landing  Depot,  and,  when  driven  off  by 
the  police  officers  stationed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  on  such  ships, 
will  abuse  these  officers  in  the  most  violent  manner,  and  will  lodge  complaints 
against  such  officers  in  the  Mayor's  office,  and  such  complaints  will  be  listened 
to  as  though  they  emanated  from  respectable  citizens. 

The  Grand  Inquest  witnessed  a  crowd  of  this  class  hovering  around  the 
gates  of  Castle  Garden,  and  they  learned  with  regret  that,  in  spite  of  repeated 
representations  to  the  municipal  authorities,  the  police  utterly  ignore  the  dis 
turbances  caused  by  this  mob,  who  will  pounce  upon  every  person  leaving  the 
enclosures  of  Castle  Garden,  and,  if  they  do  not  rob  them  of  their  money,  valu 
ables,  tickets,  baggage-checks,  or  the  like,  or  commit  gross , assault  and  battery 
upon  such  as  will  not  enter  into  conversation  with  them,  will  induce  them,  by 
force  or  argument,  to  go  with  them  to  places  where  they  will  be  required  to 
spend  part  or  all  of  their  money  before  they  can  find  a  chance  to  escape. 

With  a  proper  attention  to  their  obvious  duty  on  the  part  of  the  police,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  motley,  noisy,  and  dangerous  crowd  could  be  entirely 
broken  up,  and  prevented  from  reassembling. 

The  Grand  Inquest  have  learned  with  regret  that  this  obvious  duty  of  the 
police  is  absolutely  neglected,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  emigrants,  and  to 


APPENDIX.  199 

the  great  annoyance  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  who  superintend  the 
business  of  the  Emigrant  Landing  Depot. 

The  Grand  Inquest,  having  become  satisfied  that  the  latter  in  all  its  opera 
tions  is  a  blessing,  not  only  to  the  emigrants,  but  to  the  community  at  large, 
would  feel  remiss  in  the  performance  of  a  sacred  duty  if  they  failed  to  recom 
mend  this  important  philanthropic  establishment  to  the  fostering  care  of  the 
municipal  authorities;  and  they  have  dismissed  the  complaints  preferred 
against  certain  employees  of  the  Castle  Garden,  satisfied  that  they  are  not  sus 
tained  by  law,  and  have  their  origin  in  a  design  to  disturb,  rather  than  to  fur 
ther,  the  good  work  for  which  the  establishment  has  been  called  into  life  by 
an  act  of  Legislature  of  April,  1855. 

HOWELL  HOPPOCK,  Foreman  of  Grand  Jury. 


III.  THE  INLAND  YOYAGE, 

AND   BOOKING    OF    PASSENGERS    IN    EUROPE. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION 
OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 

New  York,  November,  1848. 

THE  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  admonished  by  the  rapid  in 
crease  of  immigration  at  the  port  of  New  York,  and  considering  the  important 
interests  connected  therewith,  has  established  a  Board  of  Commissioners,  acting 
under  the  authority  of  the  State,  and  entrusted  with  the  general  care  and 
supervision  of  the  subject.  The  protection  of  the  emigrant  against  the  tricks 
and  dishonesty  of  persons  with  whom  he  must  necessarily  come  in  contact 
immediately  on  his  arrival,  is  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  Commission  ; 
and,  in  furtherance  of  this  object,  the  undersigned  have  been  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  notice  a  great  and  frequent  abuse,  which  is  practised  upon  the  emi 
grant  even  before  he  leaves  the  Old  World. 

The  number  of  passengers  arrived  at  this  port  since  the  beginning  of  this 
year  is  nearly  1GO,000 ;  and  it  may  be  assumed  that  at  least  130,000  thereof 
have  proceeded  to  the  distant  par^s  of  the  country  at  the  West,  and  that  the 
money  paid  here  for  their  passage  amounts  to  more  than  half  a  million  of 
dollars.  As  may  be  supposed,  there  are  many  people  engaged  in  the  business 
of  forwarding  these  emigrants,  and  the  individuals  or  companies  thus  engaged 
employ  a  host  of  clerks  or  servants,  called  "  runners,"  who  try  to  meet  the 
new-comer  on  board  the  ship  that  brings  him,  or  immediately  after  he  puts  his 
foot  on  shore,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  him  to  the  forwarding  offices  for 
which  they  respectively  act.  The  tricks  resorted  to,  in  order  to  forestall  a 
competitor  and  secure  the  emigrant,  would  be  amusing,  if  they  were  not  at  the 
cost  of  the  inexperienced  and  unsuspecting  stranger  ;  and  it  is  but  too  true 
that  an  enormous  sum  of  money  is  annually  lost  to  the  emigrants  by  the  wiles 
and  false  statements  of  the  emigrant  runners,  many  of  them  originally  from 
their  own  country,  and  speaking  their  native  language. 

Of  late  the  field  of  operation  of  these  "  emigrant  runners  "  is  no  longer  con 
fined  to  this  city  ;  it  extends  to  Europe.  Some  have  appeared  there  sent  from 
here  by  forwarding  offices,  others  have  been  engaged  on  the  spot,  and  again 
others  have  commenced  and  are  carrying  on  the  business  on  their  own  account 
and  responsibility  ;  but  all  have  the  same  object  in  view,  namely,  to  make 
money  out  of  the  emigrant.  They  generally  call  themselves  agents  of  some 
transportation  or  forwarding  bureau,  and  endeavor  to  impress  the  emigrant 
who  intends  going  farther  than  New  York  with  the  belief  that  it  is  for  his 
benefit,  and  in  the  highest  degree  desirable,  to  secure  his  passage  hence  to  the 
place  of  his  destination  before  he  leaves  Europe. 


201 

It  is  well  known  that  emigrants  frequently  arrive  at  the  seaports  in  Europe, 
without  having  engaged  their  passage  across  the  ocean,  and  not  finding  a 
vessel  ready  to  take  them  on  board,  they  are  compelled  to  stop,  at  a  consider 
able  expense,  until  an  opportunity  offers  to  proceed  on  their  voyage  ;  and  it 
also  happens  that,  even  when  they  have  secured  a  passage  before  going  to  the 
port  of  embarkation,  they  are  delayed,  and  subject  to  perplexities  and  charges 
which  they  did  not  anticipate.  This  circumstance  is  taken  advantage  of  by 
the  so-called  agents  of  New  York  transportation  and  forwarding  houses,  to 
induce  the  emigrant  to  take  his  passage  from  this  port  to  his  ulterior  destina 
tion,  before  leaving  Europe.  He  is  told  that,  unless  he  does  so,  he  runs  great 
risk  of  being  detained,  or  having  to  pay  exorbitant  prices. 

These  statements,  and  all  similar  ones  which  may  be  used  for  the  purpose, 
are  not  true,  and  whoever  believes  them,  and  acts  upon  such  belief,  is  sure  to 
be  deceived. 

There  are  but  two  routes  hence  to  the  West ;  the  one  is  by  way  of  Albany 
and  Buffalo,  the  other  by  way  of  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg,  and  to  these 
places  there  is  no  more  than  one  conveyance  daily,  all  the  year  through. 
There  is  never  any  difficulty  in  getting  away  from  New  York,  and  so  nume 
rous  are  the  establishments  engaged  in  the  business  of  forwarding  passengers, 
that  exorbitant  or  high  prices  of  passage  are  entirely  prevented  by  the  com 
petition  among  said  establishments,  and  the  traveller  will  never  be  exposed  to 
them,  if  he  will  only  be  careful  not  to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  first 
comer,  but  will  take  some  pains  to  find  out  which  is  the  safest  and  cheapest 
office  to  apply  to. 

It  is  invariably  the  case,  that  those  who  in  Europe  take  passage  tickets  for 
inland  places  in  America  pay  more,  generally  considerably  more,  than  others, 
who  wait  until  they  are  here.  The  agents  in  Europe  who  sell  such  tickets 
must  have  a  compensation  therefor,  and  this  compensation,  be  it  much  or  little, 
is  added  to  the  regular  price  of  passage,  and  the  emigrant  has  to  pay  it.  In 
stances  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Commissioners,  where  the  difference 
amounted  to  three  dollars  a  person !  But  this  is  not  all.  The  cases  are  by  no 
means  rare  in  which  the  tickets  prove  entirely  worthless.  They  bear  the  name 
of  offices  which  never  existed,  and  then,  of  course  are  nowhere  respected ;  or 
the  offices  whose  name  they  bear  will  be  found  shut  up,  and  are  not  likely  ever 
to  reopen  ;  or  the  emigrants  are  directed  to  parties  refusing  to  acknowledge 
the  agent  who  issued  the  tickets,  and  in  all  these  cases  the  emigrant  loses  the 
money  paid  for  them. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  publication  will  receive  the  attention  it  deserves. 
It  would  be  gratifying  to  the  Commissioners,  and  entirely  for  the  interest  of 
the  emigrants,  if  the  respective  Governments  in  Europe  would  prohibit  the 
business  alluded  to  ;  in  any  event,  the  Commissioners  trust  that  emigrants  will 
heed  this  warning,  and  henceforward  will  not  pay  or  arrange  for  passage  to  the 
interior  of  America  until  they  are  here. 

*  On  their  arrival  here,  they  should  not  give  ear  to  any  representations,  nor 
enter  into  any  engagements,  without  obtaining  first  the  advice  and  counsel  of 
either  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  or  the  Emigrant  Society  of  the  nation 
to  which  they  belong,  or  its  consul ;  and  in  enquiring  for  the  office  of  the 


202  APPENDIX. 

society,  or  consul,  or  the  commissioners,  they  should  be  careful  not  to  be  carried 
to  the  wrong  place.  There  are  many  individuals  sufficiently  unscrupulous  in 
tentionally  to  mislead  the  stranger.  If  the  latter,  for  instance,  enquire  after  the 
agency  of  the  German  Society,  the  person  applied  to  will  say  that  he  is  the 
agent,  or  that  he  will  take  the  stranger  to  the  office  of  the  German  Society, 
but,  instead  of  doing  so,  will  take  him  to  a  place  where  he  is  almost  sure  to  be 
defrauded.  As  a  general  rule,  if  the  emigrant  is  urged  to  take  passage,  or  has 
to  pay  for  the  advice  he  asks,  he  may  take  it  for  granted  that  he  is  not  at  the 
place  where  he  wishes  to  be  ;  and  he  should  bear  in  mind  to  look  for  the 
names  of  the  persons  or  office  he  is  in  search  of,  at  the  door  of  the  houses  into 
which  he  is  shown.  All  the  foreign  consuls,  and  the  emigrant  societies,  as 
well  as^the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  have  signs  over  the  doors  of  their 
offices.  The  office  of  the  German  Society  is  No.  95  Greenwich  Street,  of  the 
Irish  Emigrant  Society  at  22  Spruce  Street,  and  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emi 
gration  in  one  of  .the  public  edifices  of  the  city,  in  the  Park. 

Finally,  we  would  remark  that,  if  the  emigrant  be  so  situated  as  to  render 
his  immediate  departure  hence  necessary,  without  having  an  opportunity  to 
apply  for  advice  to  any  of  the  places  indicated,  he  should  be  careful  not  to  take 
his  passage  for  the  whole  distance  he  has  to  go,  but  should  do  so  only  to  the 
first  station  of  the  route,  say  to  Albany  or  Philadelphia.  He  should  bear  in 
mind  that  the  passage  hence  to  Albany  is  fifty  cents,  and  to  Philadelphia  two 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  a  person,  and  no  more. 

The  Commissioners  trust  that  this  advice  will  be  "received  and  acted  upon 
with  that  confidence  to  which  it  is  entitled,  from  being  given  by  persons  who 
have  no  interest  but  that  of  the  welfare  of  the  emigrant,  whose  duties  make 
them  perfectly  familiar  with  the  subject,  and  who  act  not  as  private  citizens, 
but  under  the  authority  and  supervision  of  the  Government  of  the  State. 
In  'behalf  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK, 

President  of  the  Board. 

LEOPOLD  BIERWIRTH, 

™  ,,,,     ~  d    •  x      r  Committee. 

President  of  the  German  Society. 

JOHN  H.  GRISCOM, 

General  Agent.  _, 


New  York,  November  2, 1848. 
Hon.  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  Secretary  of  State  : 

Sin  :  I  have  the  honor  to  address  you  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

This  Board  (as  you  may  perhaps  be  already  informed)  is  a  commission 
appointed  by  the  authorities  of  this  State,  for  the  assistance  and  protection  of 
foreign  emigrants  arriving  in  this  State,  by  providing  for  the  sick  and  desti 
tute,  and  protecting  all  from  imposition  while  here,  and  aiding  them  to  their 
ultimate  destination.  We  have  lately  learned  from  unquestionable  authority 


APPENDIX.  203 

(among  others  from  the  United  States  Consul  at  Havre)  that  an  organized 
system  of  imposition  exists  at  the  principal  points  of  emigration  from  Europe, 
in  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Continent,  by 
which  great  and  frequent  frauds  are  committed  in  relation  to  the  passages  of 
emigrants  to  the  interior  of  the  United  States.  A  circular  has  been  accordingly 
prepared,  under  the  authority  of  this  Board,  with  the  design  of  exposing  these 
frauds,  thus  setting  the  emigrants  on  their  guard  against  them.  (A  printed 
copy  is  herewith  enclosed.)  It  has  occurred  to  the  Commissioners  that  this 
communication  would  be  far  more  likely  to  promote  its  objects  if  it  received 
the  aid  and  sanction  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

This  being  a  subject  strictly  relating  to  our  intercourse  with  foreign 
nations,  and  in  which  other  States  must  feel  as  much  interest  as  that  which 
first  receives  the  emigrant ;  it  appears  to  be  legitimately  within  the  constitu 
tional  sphere  of  the  General  Government.  It  is,  therefore,  respectfully  sug 
gested  that  copies  of  the  enclosed  circular  should  be  transmitted  to  the  several 
consuls  of  the  United  States,  at  all  the  points  of  great  emigration  to  this 
country,  with  a  note  from  the  Department  of  State,  recommending  the  subject 
to  their  especial  attention,  and  requesting  them  to  give  publicity  to  the  infor 
mation  and  advice  of  the  Commissioners. 

Should  this  suggestion  meet  your  approval,  printed  copies  of  the  circular 
will  be  furnished  and  forwarded  as  the  Department  may  direct. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  C.  VERPLANCK,  Pres't  of  Comm'rs  of  Emigration. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
WasJiington,  November  6, 1848. 
Hon.  G.  C.  VERPLANCK,  New  York  : 

SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  2d  inst.,  addressed  to  me  on  behalf 
of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New  York,  refer 
ring  to  the  existence  of  "  an  organized  system  of  imposition  at  the  principal 
points  of  emigration  from  Europe,  in  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Continent,  by  which  great  and  frequent  frauds  are  com 
mitted  in  relation  to  the  passages  of  emigrants  to  the  interior  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  a  printed  copy  of  a  circular,  prepared  under  the  authority 
of  the  Board,  with  the  design  of  exposing  these  frauds,  thus  setting  the  emi 
grants  on  their  guard  against  them." 

In  the  promotion  of  an  object  so  honorable  and  benevolent,  your  Board 
may  fully  rely  upon  all  the  aid  and  support  which  this  Department  can 
properly  afford. 

In  reply  to  your  suggestion  that  copies  of  this  circular  be  transmitted  to 
the  several  consuls  of  the  United  States,  at  all  the  points  of  great  emigration  to 
this  country,  and  your  offer  to  furnish  them  for  that  purpose,  I  have  to  state 
that  I  will,  with  great  pleasure,  cause  them  to  be  so  addressed,  with  such  in 
structions  as  may  be  best  calculated  to  ensure  the  results  you  have  in  view. 
I  am,  sir,  respectfully,  your  obt.  servant, 

JAMES  BUCHANAN. 


204:  APPENDIX. 


MEMORIAL. 

THE  present  respectful  address  to  the  august  Governments  of  those  Euro 
pean  states  from  which  a  regular  annual  emigration  takes  place  purposes  to 
invoke  their  powerful  assistance  in  the  philanthropic  work  of  protecting  emi-, 
grants  landing  upon  these  shores,  for  which  the  memorializing  Commission 
was  constituted  by  a  law  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
in  the  year  1847. 

This  law  creates  a  fund  by  the  payment  of  $1  50  a  head  (since  raised  to 
$2  50),  in  lieu  of  special  bonds  for  the  support  of  persons  likely  to  become  a 
public  charge,  on  all  passengers  landing  at  the  port  of  New  York,  such  fund 
to  be  applied  for  the  relief  of  immigrants  who  should  become  unable  to  sup 
port  themselves  within  the  first  five  years  after  landing,  by  sickness,  want  of 
employment,  or  other  causes,  and  to  be  administered  by  a  board  of  Commis 
sioners  of  Emigration,  consisting  of  six  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State,  of  the  Mayors  of  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn, 
and  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Irish  and  German  Societies  of  the  city  of  New 
York. 

Under  this  law  the  memorialists  have  erected  extensive  hospitals  and 
houses  of  refuge,  and  disbursed  vast  sums  of  money  for  temporary  relief,  dur 
ing  a  period  of  eight  years,  securing  the  immigrant  against  distress,  and  the 
State  at  large  against  the  charge  of  a  great  number  of  paupers,  by  healing  the 
sick,  sheltering  the  houseless,  and  finding  employment  for  thousands  of  people 
able  to  earn  their  living,  but  unable  to  find  employment  for  themselves,  by 
means  of  extensive  and  well  organized  intelligence  offices,  where  labor  is  pro 
vided  without  charge  to  the  seeker. 

But  the  efforts  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  have  not  been  limited 
to  the  work  of  relief  alone.  'Their  attention  has  also,  from  the  beginning  of 
their  activity,  been  directed  towards  the  prevention  of  suffering  among  immi 
grants,  and  they  have  from  time  to  time  suggested  the  passage  of  laws  by  the 
Legislature  for  the  protection  of  immigrants  against  systematic  fraud,  to 
which  they  were  exposed,  from  persons  profiting  by  their  ignorance  of  the 
condition  of  things  in  this  country,  or  of  its  laws  or  language,  and  subjecting 
them  to  heavy  losses  of  money  or  property,  thereby  reducing  them  to  a  condi 
tion  calling  for  relief. 

The  most  fruitful  source  of  misery  among  immigrants  has  ever  been  the 
lawless  action  of  a  numerous  class  of  people  engaged  directly  or  indirectly  in 
the  business  of  forwarding  immigrants  landing  at  this  port  to  their  destination 
in  the  interior.  The  schemes  resorted  to  by  this  class  for  practising  fraud  and 
extortion  upon  the  newly  arrived  immigrant  beggar  the  liveliest  imagination, 
and  a  variety  of  remedies  for  this  evil,  tried  by  this  Commission  and  various 
benevolent  societies,  invariably  called  forth  renewed  efforts  of  invention  on  the 
part  of  the  offenders,  which  again  baffled  the  intentions  and  exertions  of  the 
friend  of  the  immigrant  for  his  protection. 

The  growing  evil  has  finally  led  to  the  adoption  of  means  for  a  radical 
cure,  by  placing  the  landing  of  the  entire  immigration  under  the  direct  super 
vision  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration.  A  law  was  passed  by  the  Legis- 


ArrEXDix.  205 

lature  of  tlie  State,  in  April,  1855,  compelling  all  vessels  bringing  emigrant 
passengers  to  this  port  to  land  them  at  one  wharf,  to  be  designated  by  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  and  imposing  a  heavy  fine  for  any  deviation 
from  the  rule  thus  established. 

The  object  of  this  law  is  to  break  up  the  system  of  barter  and  sale  of  pas 
sengers  which  prevailed  to  a  large  extent,  by  rendering  it  impossible  for  cap 
tains  of  vessels  to  sell  their  cargo  of  passengers  to  one  or  other  gang  of  pas 
senger  brokers,  known  as  runners,  who  were  employed  at  an  enormous  ex 
pense  by  hotel-keepers,  forwarding  agents,  and  railroad  and  steamboat  com 
panies,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  them  respectively  the  largest  possible 
share  of  the  profits  to  be  made  out  of  the  unsuspecting  immigrant. 

Under  this  law,  the  memorialists  selected  and  designated  as  the  only  land 
ing  place  for  emigrants  the  wharf  adjoining  the  extensive  old  fort  situated  at 
the  Battery,  on  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  and  known  as  Castle  Garden,  and 
fitted  up  the  fort  itself  as  an  "  Emigrant  Landing  Depot,"  affording  ample  ac 
commodations  for  landing  and  forwarding  several  thousand  emigrants  in  a 
day,  and  for  the  safe-keeping  of  their  baggage  until  forwarded.  They  sur 
rounded  the  whole  ground  with  a  high  and  strong  fence,  shutting  out  effectu 
ally  the  class  of  persons  whose  depredations  against  the  property  of  emigrants 
had,  for  years,  been  a  source  of  a  great  deal  of  misery  among  emigrants  laud 
ing  in  Xew  York. 

They  also  induced  the  directors  of  the  principal  railroad  and  steamboat  lines 
to  the  West  to  organize  at  Castle  Garden  a  central  and  joint  ticket  office  for  the 
sale — at  the  regular  published  prices — of  passage  tickets  for  emigrants  to  their 
several  places  of  destination  in  the  interior,  and  to  place  such  office,  and  the 
entire  business  of  forwarding  persons  or  property,  under  their  own  immediate 
supervision. 

Under  this  arrangement  the  passenger  is  landed  with  his  baggage,  as 
security  for  which  checks  are  issued  acknowledging  responsibility  for  its  safety. 
He  finds  in  Castle  Garden  a  vast  hall,  well  ventilated  and  comfortably  warmed, 
when  the  season  requires  it,  in  which  he  can  rest  and  refresh  himself ;  large 
bath-rooms,  whose  use  is  free  of  charge  ;  frugal  meals  at  cost  price  ;  responsi 
ble  and  disinterested  officials,  speaking  his  own  language,  to  give  him  advice 
as  to  the  best  mode  of  travelling,  or  the  easiest  and  quickest  way  of  finding 
employment ;  he  can  there  buy  his  ticket  for  the  line  of  travel  by  railroad  or 
steamboat  which  he  may  choose,  and  have  his  baggage  labelled  and  numbered, 
receiving  therefore  a  receipted  check  which  calls  for  the  baggage  therein  de 
scribed  at  the  place  of  destination,  and  he  is  finally  transported  with  his  bag 
gage  by  water,  free  of  charge,  to  the  starting  place  of  the  line  he  has  chosen. 
He  is  thus  entirely  guarded  against  the  necessity  of  going  into  the  streets  of 
the  city,  and  of  exposing  himself  to  the  dangerous  snares  which  the  runner 
has  in  readiness  for  him,  as  soon  as  he  comes  in  contact  with  him.  Even  the 
collection  of  his  bills  of  exchange  on  merchants  in  the  city  may,  if  he  choses, 
be  done  for  him  through  the  cashier's  office,  and  the  money  is  then  paid  over 
to  him  under  the  supervision  of  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration.  He 
can  thus  proceed  to  his  Western  destination  without  being  exposed  to  the  least 
danger  of  loss  from  imposition. 


206  APPENDIX. 

Desperate  efforts  are  being  made  by  the  runners  and  their  backers  to  break 
down  this  beneficent  institution.  No  calumny  is  left  untried  in  order  to  excite 
public  opinion  against  it.  But  all  this  has  proved  of  no  avail,  for  the  immense 
benefit  which  the  immigrant  derives  from  the  protection  afforded  him  by  this 
institution  is  too  clearly  demonstrable  to  admit  of  a  doubt  in  any  observing 
and  unbiassed  mind. 

The  clamorers  finding  themselves  unable  to  prove  the  Emigrant  Landing 
Depot  at  Castle  Garden  a  nuisance,  endangering  the  health  and  prosperity  of 
the  city,  and  equally  unable  to  make  their  usual  iniquitous  profits  out  of  the 
emigrants  protected  by  its  walls,  have  resorted  to  a  means  which  threatens  in 
a  measure  to  paralyze  the  beneficial  action  of  this  institution,  by  circumventing 
its  protective  operation. 

The  means  alluded  to  is  the  system  of  contracting  with  emigrants  in  Europe 
for  their  inland  passage  from  Neio  York  to  their  places  of  destination  in  the 
interior  of  the  United  States  or  in  Canada.  This  system  has  been  lately  re 
vived  to  a  considerable  extent.  Runners  and  forwarding  agents  of  this  city, 
finding  their  occupation  gone  by  the  establishment  of  the  Emigrant  Landing 
Depot  of  Castle  Garden,  have  removed  to  European  ports,  and  even  inland 
towns,  or  have  there  revived  or  established  agencies  for  booking  passengers  to 
places  in  the  interior  previous  to  their  leaving  the  European  ports,  or  even  their 
inland  homes,  and  for  receiving  part  or  the  whole  of  the  price  of  such  inland 
tickets  in  advance. 

It  is  self-evident  that  these  agencies,  carried  on  at  considerable  expense,  are 
not  content  to  charge  a  legitimate  commission  on  the  net  prices  of  tickets 
merely.  Overcharges  on  the  personal  tickets  are  the  rule,  pretty  generally 
varying  from  25  to  50  per  cent,  above  the  established  rates  of  transportation 
companies,  and  very  often  being  fully  double  the  proper  charge ;  whilst  full 
and  unlimited  facilities  are  left  open  for  the  consignees  in  this  country,  their 
runners  and  baggagemen,  to  defraud  the  passenger  on  the  charges  for  his  bag 
gage  after  he  arrives  here.  False  representations,  amounting  almost  to  coer 
cion,  are  not  unfrequently  resorted  to,  in  order  to  induce  emigrants  to  contract 
for  inland  passage  before  leaving  Europe.  Assertions  of  the  most  absurd  de 
scription  are  made  to  the  emigrant,  such  for  instance  as  that  it  would  be  im 
possible  to  travel  inland  unless  on  tickets  issued  by  the  agent  making  the 
assertion,  and  such  assertions  are  conveyed  in  such  language,  and  with  such  a 
show  of  apparently  corroborative  evidence,  as  to  inspire  confidence,  and  to  mis 
lead  the  inexperienced  emigrant.  Some  of  these  agencies,  more  especially  in 
England,  have  gone  so  far  as  to  represent  themselves  as  agents  for  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration,  and  have  grossly  defrauded  passengers  under  the 
shelter  of  the  name  of  the  memorialists,  thus  endeavoring  indirectly  to  shake 
public  faith  in  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 

The  effect  of  this  system  is  calculated  to  destroy  the  protection  which  Castle 
Garden  throws  around  the  immigrant,  for  the  passenger  landing  with  a  con 
tract  in  his  pocket,  on  which  he  has  made  payment,  in  part  or  in  full,  at  once 
leaves  Castle  Garden  for  the  city,  to  find  the  consignee  who  is  to  fulfil  the  con 
tract  made  in  Europe.  He  thus  passes  by  the  institution  planned  and  arranged 
by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  for  his  protection,  and  falls  into  the  very  hands 


APPENDIX.  207 

against  whom  lie  would  have  been  effectually  protected.  He  has  to  pay  heavy 
cartage  for  the  transportation  of  his  baggage,  for  whose  safety,  moreover,  his 
own  vigilance  will  be  the  only  guarantee.  He  will  again  be  detained,  on  vari 
ous  pretences,  in  the  taverns  until  his  last  dollar  is  expended,  and  a  small  debt 
incurred,  which  furnishes  a  pretext  for  seizing  part  or  the  whole  of  his  lug 
gage,  and,  thus  plucked,  he  will  again  be  turned  heartlessly  into  the  street,  to 
become  a  charge  to  benevolence,  instead  of  going  directly  into  an  independent 
and  useful  activity,  as  he  would  if  he  had  proceeded  at  once  from  the  Landing 
Depot  to  his  final  place  of  destination,  without  being  robbed  of  his  means 
and  of  his  property  by  useless  and  fraudulent  delays,  caused  by  interested  par 
ties  taking  advantage  of  his  ignorance. 

It  is  to  prevent  this  dangerous  system  of  "  booking  in  Europe,"  that  the  me 
morialists  most  respectfully  ask  for  the  assistance  and  co-operation  of  the  Gov 
ernments  of  Europe.  The  care  which  the  European  Governments  have  evinced 
for  the  protection  of  their  individual  subjects,  by  stringent  laws  regulating, 
superintending,  or  forbidding  every  species  of  business,  calculated  to  offer 
scope  to  the  swindler,  inspires  the  memorialists  with  the  hope  that  their  rep 
resentations  will  be  favorably  considered,  and  that  the  Governments  addressed 
will  be  pleased  to  assist  them  in  their  efforts  to  protect  the  landing  emigrants, 
by  adopting  such  measures  as  will  render  it  impossible  for  the  reckless  specu 
lator  upon  the  property  of  the  emigrant  to  frustrate,  in  the  manner  indicated, 
the  desire  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  extend  to  him, 
through  the  memorialists,  a  complete  protection  against  fraud  and  imposition 
when  he  lands  in  this  portt 

The  memorialists,  being.aware  of  the  accomplished  business-tact,  and  of  the 
easy,  insinuating,  and  gentlemanly  address  of  the  more  prominent  among  the 
passenger  agents  who  have  gone  to  Europe,  and  are  now  travelling  or  residing 
there,  engaged  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  the  concerns  of  this  city  with 
which  they  are  connected,  would  respectfully  caution  the  Governments  of 
Europe  against  the  plausible  statements  which  such  men  are  in  the  habit  of 
making  to  further  their  own  ends,  and  would  respectfully  solicit  a  thorough 
investigation  of  the  protective  establishment  under  the  charge  of  the  memo 
rialists,  by  the  representatives  in  this  country  of  the  European  Governments, 
envoys,  ministers,  consuls,  or  commercial  agents. 

Recommending  their  memorial  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  august 
Governments,  the  undersigned  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  themselves  most 
respectfully, 

YORK,  November,  1855. 

THE  BOARD  OP  COMMISSIONERS  OP  EMIGRATION, 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

JOHN  A.  KENNEDY,  JAMES  KELLY,  ) 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY,  E.  D.  MORGAN,  [  Commissioners. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMING,  ) 

FERNANDO  WOOD,  Mayor  of  New  York. 

GEO.  HALL,  Mayor  of  Brooklyn. 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN,  President  Irish  Society. 

RUD.  GARRIGUE,  President  German  Society. 


208  APPENDIX. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  EMIGRATION, 
New  York,  January  23,  1857. 

Hon.  WM.  L.  MARCY,  Secretary  of  State,  Washington  City  : 

SIR  :  At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  tlie  State 
of  New  York,  I  was  instructed  to  communicate  to  you  their  request  that  an 
other  effort  should  "be  made  to  induce  the  Governments  of  those  countries  of 
Europe  whence  emigration  to  this  port  chiefly  flows,  to  prohibit  altogether  the 
booking  of  passengers  for  inland  passages  or  transportation  in  the  United 
States,  or  selling  abroad  passage  tickets  or  contracts  for  passage  tickets  to  be 
used  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

On  this  subject,  permit  me  to  refer  you  to  a  letter  from  a  Committee  of  this 
Board  to  yourself,  of  October  12,  1855,  to  your  reply  thereto,  and  to  the  printed 
circulars  issued  in  consequence  thereof,  and  circulated  abroad  through  the 
facilities  afforded  by  the  Department  of  State. 

The  apprehensions  expressed  in  the  letter  of  the  Committee,  that  the  seat 
of  depredation  on  the  emigrant  would  be  changed  from  this  port  to  the  port  of 
embarkation,  have  been  more  than  realized. 

The  chief  operators  in  this  system  of  fraud  have  not  only  opened  offices  in 
the  several  seaports  where  emigrants  to  this  country  usually  embark,  but  have 
also  established  agencies  in  towns  in  the  interior  of  those  countries,  and  in  the 
very  villages  whence  families  are  likely  to  emigrate. 

The  effect  of  these  agencies  has  been  to  renew,  and  even  increase,  the  evils 
which  have  been  checked  by  the  establishment  of  an  exclusive  landing-place 
for  emigrants  at  Castle  Garden. 

The  more  remote  the  place  where  the  emigrant  is  induced  /to  purchase  a 
ticket  for  inland  transportation  in  this  country,  the  greater  is  the  opportunity 
for  imposition  and  fraud,  and  this  is  seldom  suffered  to  pass  unused. 

The  efforts  made  by  our  Government  heretofore  for  protecting  emigrants 
from  such  frauds  abroad,  have  hitherto  had  little  effect  on  the  European 
Governments,  with  the  exception  only  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen.  Not  only  is 
the  privilege  of  booking  passengers  for  distant  inland  points  in  the  United 
States  continued,  but  in  some  places  it  has  been  aided  (it  is  hoped  not  inten 
tionally)  by  means  of  government  licenses,  giving  an  official  character  to  the 
business,  well  calculated  to  mislead  the  ignorant.  These  are  grossly  over 
charged  for  real  tickets,  or  as  often  imposed  on  by  fraudulent  ones.  After 
which,  they  are  consigned  to  continued  depredations  by  other  confederates  in 
this  city  and  elsewhere  in  the  United  States. 

These  are  facts  of  daily  occurrence,  which  our  official  position  brings  con 
stantly  to  our  notice,  but  seldom  enables  us  to  arrest  or  remedy. 

There  is  a  marked  contrast  in  passengers  coming  by  way  of  Hamburg  and 
Bremen  and  those  by  other  European  ports.  It  rarely  occurs  that  passengers 
from  either  Hamburg  or  Bremen  are  unable,  on  their  arrival  here,  to  pay  their 
way  to  their  destination  in  the  interior,  or  to  secure  all  proper  comforts  and 
conveniences  on  the  way.  Very  many  of  those  from  other  ports  are  first  de 
frauded  of  their  means,  by  being  induced  to  purchase  tickets  for  railroad  and 


APPENDIX.  209 

water  travel  in  this  country,  at  high  prices,  which,  when  presented  here,  are 
found  to  be  either  quite  worthless,  or  to  carry  the  holders  only  to  some  point 
in  the  interior  far  short  of  their  destination,  where  they  are  left  destitute. 

Other  tickets  are  genuine,  but  are  found  to  have  been  paid  for  at  prices  very 
far  above  the  actual  cost  at  the  offices  here. 

It  appears  to  us  that  the  claims  of  humanity  and  justice  and  the  comity  of 
nations  require  and  authorize  our  Government  to  invoke  the  aid  of  other 
Governments  in  protecting  their  own  subjects  during  their  pilgrimage  from  an 
overcrowded  home  to  a  region  where  vacant  acres  invite  and  reward  the  hand 
of  industry. 

To  show  the  manner  in  which  the  business  of  the  emigrant  landing-place  at 
Castle  Garden,  New  York,  under  the  exclusive  control  of  this  Commission,  and 
established  in  pursuance  of  a  special  enactment  of  our  Legislature,  has  been 
conducted,  I  enclose  copies  of  a  presentment*  by  a  recent  grand  jury  of  this 
county.  It  will  probably  speak  for  us  better  than  we  can  for  ourselves  on  one 
of  the  most  important  points  of  our  administration  of  the  trust  confided  to  us 
by  the  State  of  New  York. 

am,  with  much  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
Washington,  January  31, 1857. 

Hon.  G.  C.  VERPLANCK,  President  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration  : 

SIR  :  I  have  received  your  communication  of  the  23d  inst.,  with  its  enclo 
sures,  calling  the  attention  of  this  department  to  the  impositions  practised  upon 
emigrants  to  the  United  States  in  the  countries  from  which  they  depart,  and 
suggesting  that  the  aid  of  those  Governments  should  be  invoked  to  protect 
their  subjects  from  the  arts  of  designing  and  unprincipled  individuals. 

The  motives  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
by  the  State  of  New  York  are  in  the  highest  degree  philanthropic  and  praise 
worthy,  and,  accordingly,  to  further  the  objects  which  you  have  in  view,  I 
have  addressed  a  circular  letter,  of  which  a  copy  is  herewith  enclosed,  to  the 
diplomatic  and  consular  agents  of  the  United  States  in  those  countries  of 
Europe  from  which  emigrants  chiefly  proceed,  and  instructed  them  to  bring 
the  subject  of  your  communication  to  the  notice  of  the  Governments  to  which 
they  are  respectively  accredited,  or  of  the  authorities  of  the  places  where  they 
reside,  and  to  ask  for  the  adoption  of  such  measures  on  their  part  as  may  be 
required  by  the  claims  of  humanity  and  the  comity  of  nations. 

I  have  likewise  had  the  pleasure  of  conferring  with  Mr.  Murray,  the  agent 
of  the  Board,  and  have  furnished  him  with  facilities  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  purposes  of  the  Commissioners  in  his  proposed  visit  to  Europe. 
I  am,  sir,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  L.  MARCY. 

*  For  presentment,  see  page  196. 


210  APPENDIX. 

CIRCULAR. 

No.  17. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
Washington,  January  31,  1857. 

SIR :  The  attention  of  this  department  having  been  recently  called  to  the 
abuses  to  which  emigrants  are  subjected  in  the  countries  from  which  they  pro 
ceed,  and  on  their  arrival  at  certain  seaports  in  the  United  States,  it  has  been 
deemed  advisable  to  bring  the  subject  to  your  notice.  I  accordingly  herewith 
transmit,  in  a  printed  form,  a  copy  of  a  communication  addressed  to  this  depart 
ment,  on  the  23d  instant,  by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Emigration  at  New  York,  in  which  a  mode  of  correcting  the  existing  evils  is 
suggested. 

You  are  instructed  to  bring  this  subject,  which  is  fully  set  forth  in  the 
annexed  letter  of  Mr.  Verplanck  and  its  accompaniment,  to  the  notice  of  the 
Government  to  which  you  are  accredited,  or  of  the  authorities  of  the  place  where 
you  reside,  and  to  ask  for  the  adoption  of  such  measures  on  their  part  as  may 
be  considered  necessary  for  the  protection  of  those  intending  to  emigrate  to  this 
country.  A  step  in  this  direction  would  no  doubt  be  of  service  in  correcting 
the  evils  complained  of,  and  a  regard  for  the  interests  of  humanity  demands 
that  it  should  be  taken. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

W.  L.  MARCY. 


IV.  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS. 

EMIGRANT    LANDING   DEPOT,    CASTLE    GARDEN. 

I.— EMIGRANTS. 

1.  ALL  emigrant  passengers  arriving  at  the  Port  of  New  York,  and  their  lug 
gage,  after  being  checked,  must  be  landed  at  the  Emigrant  Landing  Depot, 
Castle  Garden,  free  of  expense.     Passengers  are  earnestly  requested  to  take 
personal  charge  of  all  their  property  not  checked. 

2.  After  landing,  the  passengers  will  be  examined  for  the  purpose  of  ascer 
taining  if  any  are  liable  to  be  bonded,  or  in  such  condition  of  health  as  to  re 
quire  hospital  care,  and  will  then  be  assembled  in  the  enclosure,  and  the  name, 
occupation,  age,  birthplace,  and  destination  of  each,  with  other  necessary  par 
ticulars,  recorded. 

3.  Emigrants  desiring  to  take  any  Railroad  or  Steamboat  route  for  which 
tickets  are  sold  in  this  Depot,  will  communicate  with  the  officers  of  the  Rail 
road  Agency,  and  select  such  route  as  they  prefer.     The  agent  of  said  route 
shall  be  required  to  transport  such  emigrants  and  their  luggage  to  the  Rail 
road  Depot  or  Steamboat  Landing,  by  water  conveyance  when  feasible,  by 
land  when  not,  but  in  either  case  free  of  charge. 

4.  Before  the  removal  of  luggage  of  emigrants  having  bought  tickets  of  the 
Railroad  Agency,  the  same  shall  be  weighed,  and  each  piece  labelled  and 
checked  to  its  place  of  destination,  with  a  common  number  for  all  the  pieces  of 
luggage  of  any  one  passenger,  and  a  proper  check  given  to  the  owner,  setting 
forth,  in  ink,  the  number  of  his  luggage  ticket,  the  number  of  pieces  of  lug 
gage,  the  gross  weight,  the  overweight,  and  the  charge  he  is  liable  to  for  its 
transportation  to  the  point  of  destination  ;  which  check  shall  be  signed  in  ink 
as  a  receipt  for  the  luggage  by  an  authorized  representative  of  the  Railroad 
Agency. 

5.  The  names  of  all  emigrants  expected  by  friends  and  relatives  will  be  an 
nounced,  and  all  answering  to  their  name  will  be  transferred  to  such  friends 
and  relatives  as  may  be  waiting  for  them. 

6.  The  galleries  and  floor  of  the  Depot  will  be  open  for  the  free  use  of  re 
cently  arrived  emigrants,  until  ready  to  take  their  departure  ;  and  they  are  re 
quested  to  make  use  of  the  wash-rooms  before  leaving  the  premises. 

7.  Emigrants  desiring  board  and  lodging  are  advised  to  communicate  with 
the  keepers  of  boarding-houses  having  permission  in  this  Depot,  and  who  will 
be  allowed  on  the  floor  for  this  purpose.     Every  boarding-house  keeper,  when 
soliciting  an  emigrant  for  his  house,  must  hand  such  emigrant  a  card,  setting 


212  APPENDIX. 

forth  his  name  and  residence,  the  prices,  in  gold  and  paper  money,  of  board 
and  lodging,  by  the  day  and  week,  and  for  single  meals  and  night's  lodging. 

8.  Emigrants  wishing  to  buy  food  can  purchase  at  the  bread  stands  and 
restaurant  in  the  Depot  at  prescribed  rates,  as  stated  on  cards  at  such  stands. 

9.  Emigrants  remaining  in  the  city  of  New  York  or  vicinity  must  defray 
the  expense  of  removing  their  luggage  from  the  Depot,  and  are  informed  that 
for  this  purpose  a  Baggage  Express  is  admitted  to  the  Depot. 

10.  Emigrants  seeking  employment  are  requested  to  apply  to  the  Superin 
tendent  of  Labor,  and  to  make  use  of  the  Labor  Exchange  attached  to  the 
Depot. 

11.  Emigrants  desiring  to  deposit  money  or  valuables  over  night  are  ad 
vised  to  do  so  in  the  office  of  the  General  Agent  and  Superintendent,  who  Avill 
give  a  receipt  therefor.    Employees  are  forbidden  to  take  charge  of  such  money 
or  valuables  of  emigrants,  unless  the  same  be  handed  them  after  business 
hours  ;  in  which  case  report  shall  be  made  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  General 
Agent. 

II.— BOARDING-HOUSE    KEEPERS. 

Boarding-house  Keepers,  having  permission  to  enter  the  Landing  Depot  to  solicit 
Boarders,  must  observe  the  following  Rules : 

12.  Every  Boarding-house  Keeper  must  wear  his  badge  in  a  conspicuous 
place  on  his  breast  when  entering  the  Depot,  and  keep  it  so  exposed  while  in 
the  premises. 

13.  Every  Boarding-house  Keeper  must  present  to  passengers,  when  solicit 
ing  such  passengers  for  his  house,  a  card  setting  forth  his  name  and  residence, 
and  the  prices  in  gold  and  paper  money  charged  for  board  and  lodging  by  the 
day  and  week,  and  for  each  meal  and  night's  lodging  ;  and  he  must  also  fur 
nish  emigrants  with  a  bill  setting  forth  all  charges  incurred  for  board,  etc.,  be 
fore  receiving  pay  therefor  ;  and  must  make  to  this  department  a  daily  return 
of  all  passengers  taken  out  of  the  Depot. 

14.  Boarding-house  Keepers  are  required  to  direct  to  this  Depot  emigrants 
wishing  to  communicate  with  their  friends,  or  seeking  employment,  or  desiring 
advances  on  luggage. 

15.  Every  Boarding-house  Keeper  having  permission  in  this  Depot  must 
post  in  Castle  Garden  and  in  his  house,  in  a  conspicuous  place,  where  the  same 
may  be  seen  at  all  times  by  emigrants,  a  card  containing  a  list  of  prices  for 
board  and  lodging  by  the  day  and  week,  and  for  single  meals  and  night's 
lodging,  and  setting  forth  whether  such  prices  are  in  gold  or  paper  money. 
Prices  charged  to  emigrants  must  conform  with  the  prices  set  forth  on  said 
lists,  and  on  the  card  handed  to  the  emigrant,  as  required  in  Rule  13. 

16.  Boarding-house  Keepers  must  behave  in  an  orderly  manner  while  in 
the  Depot,  and  remain  seated  in  the  place  assigned  them  until  admitted  on  the 
floor. 


APPENDIX.  213 

III.— MISSIONARIES 

And  Representatives  of  Religious  Bodies  and  Societies,  admitted  to  the  Landing 
Depot,  are  to  observe  the  following  Rules  : 

17.  They  may  distribute  religious  books  and  papers  among  the  emigrants, 
and  give  them  all  necessary  advice  of  a  spiritual  nature  ;  and  shall  report  to 
the  officers  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  any  wants  of  emigrants  other 
than  of  a  religious  nature,  coming  under  their  notice  ;  and  shall  not  interfere 
in  the  secular  requirements  of  the  emigrants,  or  the  secular  matters  of  the  De 
partment,  but  shall  direct  all  such  emigrants  to  the  proper  officers  of  the  Com 
missioners  of  Emigration. 

18.  They  may  visit  any  sick  emigrants  in  the  Hospital  as  often  as  their  pres 
ence  is  required  by  such  emigrant,  and  when  called  by  the  nurse  or  other  officer 
of  this  Department. 

IV.— GENERAL  RULES 

For  the  Government  of  the  Landing  Depot : 

19.  The  business  of  the  Depot  will  commence  at  7  o'clock  A.M.  from  May  1 
to  Nov.  1,  and  at  8  o'clock  A.M.  from  Nov.  1  to  May  1 ;  and  the  clerks  of  the 
Letter  Department  shall  also  be  present  at  all  times,  after  the  landing  and  reg 
istering  of  passengers,  to  write  to  friends   of  emigrants  desiring  to  acquaint 
them  of  their  arrival,  and  request  funds  for  their  inland  journey,  or  for  any^ 
purpose. 

20.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  within  the  enclosure  except  the  officers 
and  employees  of  this  Department  and  the  officers  and  employees  of  the  Rail 
road  Agency,  except  on  permission  of  the  Superintendent. 

21.  No  person  shall  be  employed  by  any  party  occupying  an  office  within 
the  enclosure  as  clerk,  ticket-seller,  interpreter,  or  in  any  other  capacity,  unless 
first  approved  by  the  Castle  Garden  Committee ;  and  no  employee  or  other 
person   having  privilege  in  this  Depot  shall,  under  any  pretence  whatever, 
receive  from  emigrants  or  others  any  recompense  for  any  service  rendered. 

22.  Every  employee  of  this  Department  will  be  furnished  with  a  badge  set 
ting  forth  his  position,  which  he  shall  wear  and  exhibit  while  on  duty. 

V.— RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 

For  the  Government  of  the  Information  Office,  for  Friends  of  arriving  Emigrants. 

23.  This  office  will  be  open  for  business  from  May  1  to  November  1  at  7 
o'clock  A.M.,  and  from  November  1  to  May  1  at  8  o'clock  A.M.,  and  remain 
open  as  long  as  the  Superintendent  may  direct.     All  persons  having  relations 
or  friends  whom  they  wish  to  receive,  are  requested  to  report  to  the  clerk  the 
names  of  the  passengers  expected  by  them,  and  the  vessel  on  which  they 
arrived,  with  their  own  names  and  residences.     They  will  then  remain  seated 
until  such  passengers  are  brought,  and  on  receiving  them  they  are  requested 
to  leave  the  premises,  so  as  to  avoid  obstructing  the  business. 


APPENDIX. 


24.  Emigrants  wishing  to  have  tlieir  baggage  transported  by  the  Express 
Company  at  the  Depot  (referred  to  Rule  9)  are  requested  to  leave  the  proper 
directions  at  the  Express  Office  before  leaving  the  premises.    Those  desiring  to 
take  away  their  baggage  can  receive  it  on  the  day  after  landing,  and  are 
requested  to  apply  for  it  themselves,  for  the  purpose  of  identifying  their  prop 
erty. 

25.  All  services  rendered  by  the  officers  and  employees  are  without  charge 
or  expense  to  emigrants  or  their  friends,  or  to  any  person  having  business  with 
the  office. 

VI.—  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 

For  the  Government  of  the  Labor  Exchange  and  Intelligence  Office. 

26.  This  office  will  be  open  for  business  from  May  1  to  November  1  at  7 
o'clock  A.M.,  and  from  November  1  to  May  1  at  8  o'clock  A.M.,  and  remain 
open  as  long  as  the  Superintendent  may  direct  ;  and  shall  be  free  for  the  use  of 
employers  and  of  emigrants  seeking  employment. 

27.  Emigrants  and  their  employers  are  requested,  after  making  their  con 
tracts  and  before  leaving  the  office,  to  leave  on  record  in  the  Office  Register  the 
particulars  of  such  contract,  the  emigrant's  name,  age,  and  date  of  arrival,  and 
the  employer's  name  and  residence. 

VII.—  RAILROAD  DEPARTMENT. 

28.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  clerks  and  employees  of  the  Railroad  Agency 
to  be  at  their  respective  stations  on  the  landing  of  passengers,  and  so  long 
thereafter  as  their  services  may  be  required,  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  emigrants 
desiring  to  leave  the  city  by  any  of  the  routes  for  which  tickets  are  sold  in  the 
Depot  ;  and  in  every  way  to  conform  to  all  rules  regarding  them  heretofore  or 
hereafter  adopted. 

29.  It  shall  further  be  the  duty  of  the  clerks  and  employees  of  the  Railroad 
Agency  to  refer  all  emigrants  desiring  information  other  than  regarding  the 
purchase  of  tickets  to  the  proper  officers  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 

30.  The  Railroad  Agency  and  its  officers  are  permitted  to  accept  In  payment 
for  Railroad  tickets  and  for  overweight  of  luggage  gold  and  silver,  allowing 
for  such  gold  and  silver  in  current  funds  within  one  per  cent,  of  the  market 
rate,  and  furnishing  to  the  emigrant  a  printed  slip,  setting  forth  the  number 
and  denomination  of  the  coins  purchased,  the  respective  rates  paid  therefor, 
and  whole  amount  paid. 

31.  The  Railroad  Agency  will  be  required  to  report  monthly  to  the  Castle 
Garden  Committee  the  number  of  emigrants  transported  each  month  over  the 
several  Railroads  represented  by  said  Agency  and  their  connecting  lines  to  the 
chief  points  to  which  emigrants  go,  together  with  the  routes  by  which  such 
emigrants  are  sent. 

82.  No  person  shall  be  employed  by  the  Railroad  Agency  in  any  capacity 
whatever,  except  by  and  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the  Castle  Garden 
Committee. 


APPENDIX.  215 

VIII.— EXCHANGE  BROKERS. 

33.  Every  Exchange  Broker  admitted  to  this  Depot  shall  be  required  to  be 
at  his  desk  while  emigrants  are  landing,  in  order  to  attend  to  the  wants  of 
such  emigrants  as  wish  to  have  money  exchanged. 

34.  They  shall  post  in  a  conspicuous  place  every  day  the  current  market 
rates  of  gold  and  silver,  and  the  prices  paid  by  them  for  gold  and  silver  of 
every  denomination,  domestic  and  foreign,  and  shall  pay  in  current  funds  for 
all  gold  and  silver  bought  by  them  from  the  emigrants  within  one  per  cent,  of 
the  current  market  rates  of  such  gold  and  silver. 

35.  They  shall  furnish  to  every  emigrant,  from  whom  they  purchase  gold 
or  silver,  a  printed  slip  setting  forth  the  name  of  the  broker  and  the  number 
and  denominations  of  the  coins  purchased,  the  respective  rates  paid  therefor, 
and  the  whole  amount  paid. 

IX.— RESTAURANT  AND  BREAD-STANDS. 

36.  The  Keepers  of   the  Restaurant  for  the  use  of  emigrants  within  the- 
Depot  shall  be  required  to  open  the  same  at  6  A.M.  in  the  summer  and  7  AJVI. 
in  the  winter,  and  to  keep  open  as  long  as  the  emigrants  require  their  services  ; 
and  shall  expose  in  a  conspicuous  place  a  list  of  prices  charged  by  them  for  all 
articles  supplied,  which  list  of  prices  must  be  submitted  to  the  Castle  Garden 
Committee  for  examination  and  approval  monthly. 

X.— WASH-ROOMS. 

37.  The  Wash-rooms  shall  be  open  from  6  A.M.  to  such  an  hour  in  the 
night  as  emigrants  need  their  use. 

XI.— HOSPITALS. 

38.  The  Hospital  Rooms  are  for  the  use  of  the  sick  alone. 

39.  When  any  emigrant  becomes  sick  in  or  is  brought  sick  to  the  Depot 
during  the  night,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Night  Watchman  to  have  such 
patient  transferred  to  the  Hospital  and  put  in  charge  of  the  nurse,  and  to  pro 
cure  the  attendance  of  the  Medical  Officer  of  the  establishment  without  delay. 

N.  B. — It  is  earnestly  requested  that  immediate  complaint  be  made  to  the 
General  Agent  and  Superintendent  of  any  violation  of  these  Rules. 

Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

EMIGRANT  LANDING  DEPOT,  CASTLE  GARDEN, 
New  York,  May  18, 1867. 


216  APPENDIX. 


STATE  EMIGRANT  REFUGE  AND  HOSPITAL,  WARD'S  ISLAND.* 

[The  Establishment  at  Ward's  Island,  under  the  control  of  the  Commissioners, 
shall  be  known  as  and  styled  THE  STATE  EMIGRANT  REFUGE  AND  HOS 
PITAL.] 

I.— THE  SUPERINTENDENT. 

THE  SUPERINTENDENT  shall  have  charge  of  the  Emigrant  Refuge  and  Hos 
pital  at  Ward's  Island,  all  the  buildings  and  grounds  connected  therewith,  the 
control  of  the  inmates,  and  of  all  subordinate  officers ;  he  shall  be  held  respon 
sible  for  the  cleanliness,  good  order,  and  proper  management  of  the  Establish 
ment;  and  he  shall  have  a  general  supervision  of  all  the  property  of  every 
description  belonging  to  the  Commissioners  at  Ward's  Island. 

2.  He  shall  receive  all  persons  to  whom  permits  have  been  given  for  admis 
sion  into  the  Refuge  or  Hospital,  by  the  Vice-President,  or   his  Deputy  for 
that  purpose,  or  by  any  Commissioner.     No  other  person  will  be  admitted  as  an 
inmate.     It  shall  be  his  duty  to  see  that  all  persons  having  permits  for  the 
Hospital  are  at  once  transferred  to  that  department.      He  shall  cause  the  trans 
portation  of  sick  persons  in  the  Refuge  to  the  Hospital ;  but  no  person  shall  be 
continued  or  allowed  to  remain  in  the  Hospital  after  they  cease  to  need  Medical 
treatment. 

3.  He  shall  take  charge  of  all  money  or  other  valuable  articles,  except  reli 
gious  books  and  emblems,  belonging  to  inmates,  and  shall  cause  a  receipt  for 
the  same  to  be  given  to  the  person  from  whom  they  may  be  taken,  and  enter 
the  name  of  the  owner,  a  description  of  the  articles,  the  date  when,  and  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  they  were  taken,  shall  be  entered  in  a  book  kept  for 
that  purpose. 

4.  He  shall  cause  to  be  kept  a  Register  of   all  admissions  into  and  dis 
charges  from  the  Establishment,  distinguishing  the  Hospital  and  Refuge,  under 
their  several  dates,  and  shall  make  a  weekly  return  to  the  Commissioners  of 
each  day's  admissions  and  discharges,  and   also  of    the  births  and  deaths, 
accompanied  by  such  remarks  as  may  be  called  for  by  any  case  of  admission, 
discharge,   birth,   or  death.     Every   Monday   he  shall  make  a  return  to  the 
Commissioners  of  the  whole  number  of  persons  in  all  the  departments  of  the 
Establishment,  designating  by  actual  count  the  number  in  each  ;  the  number 
of  children  under  twelve  years  of  age,  and  a  summary  of  the  births  and  deaths 
for  the  preceding  week ;  also,  of  the  number  of  orphan  children  of  each  sex, 
their  ages,  etc. 

5.  He  shall  give  to  every  adult  inmate  applying  for  it  a  discharge  in  writ 
ing,  except  insane  persons,  or  those  he  may  consider  unable  to  earn  a  living 

*  These  rules  were  adopted  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  June  16, 1858.  It  is 
sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  give  only  those  portions  of  them  which  have  reference  to  the 
Superintendent  and  the  Hospital.  The  duties  of  the  subordinate  employees,  such  as  clerks, 
watchmen,  stewards,  policemen,  matrons,  teachers,  cockswain,  apothecary,  nurses,  and  order 
lies  do  not  differ  from  the  ordinary  duties  performed  by  such  persons. 


APPENDIX.  217 

or  take  care  of  themselves,  or  such  as  may  be  retained  for  disorderly  conduct. 
He  shall  take  care  that  no  person  employed  in  the  Establishment,  and  no 
inmate,  leaves  the  Island  without  his  permission. 

6.  He   shall  make  to  the  Commissioners  monthly  reports  of  all  inmates 
who  ought  to  be  or  \vish  to  be  discharged,  and  who  desire  to  be  sent  to  any 
place  out  of  the  city  of  New  York,  but  who  have  not  sufficient  means  for  their 
transportation,  and  of  such  children  (orphans  or  others)  who  should  be  inden 
tured  as  apprentices,  or  placed  at  general  service.     These  reports  must  be  ac 
companied  by  a  statement  of  the  age  and  condition  of  each  party  named  in 
them,  and  his  opinion  of  the  best  disposition  to  be  made  of  each  ;  and  any  de 
cision  by  the  Board  as  to  the  disposition  of  the  parties  named  in  the  reports, 
the  Superintendent  must  see  carried  into  effect  without  delay. 

7.  The  Superintendent  shall  make  weekly  written  requisitions  for  the  sup 
plies  of  every  description  required  for  the  use  of  the  Hospital  and  Refuge ;  and 
these  requisitions,  countersigned  by  the  Steward,  together  with  the  Apothe. 
cary's  requisition,  countersigned  by  the  Physician,  must  be  delivered  at  the 
office  of  the  Commissioners  every  Monday. 

8.  He  must  see  that  an  exact  account  is  taken  of  all  goods  and  supplies 
furnished  for  the  use  of  the  Establishment,  and  proper  receipts  given  for  the 
same  ;  that  the  goods  and  supplies  are  properly  taken  care  of ;  and  should  any 
deficiency  in  quality  or  quantity  occur,  forthwith  to  report  the  same  to  the 
Board. 

9.  He   shall  see  that  proper  facilities  are  afforded  the  inmates  for  writing 
to  their  friends  ;  or,  when  necessary,  that  letters  are  written  for  them,  and  that 
all  letters  for  inmates  are  promptly  delivered  to  them.     When  notified  that 
any  inmate  of  the  Hospital,  or  is  aware  that  any  inmate  of  the  Refuge,  is 
desirous  of  conversing  with  a  religious  person  other  than  the  Chaplains,  he 
shall  invite  such  person  of  such  denomination  as  the  said  inmate  shall  require, 
to  visit  the  inmate  ;  and  while  such  person  is  present  he  shall  see  that  due  de 
corum  is  observed  by  the  other  inmates  of  the  Ward. 

10.  With  the  exception  of  the  Chaplains  and  Physicians,  he  shall  select 
and  appoint  all  officers,  nurses,  and  employees  necessary  for  the  various  de 
partments  of  the  Refuge  and  Hospital,  to  hold  their  respective  places  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  Superintendent,  who  shall  report  to  the  Board  all  appoint 
ments  and  discharges  when  made. 

11.  lie  shall  have  the  control  and  direction  of  all  the  officers  and  persons 
employed  in  and  about  the  Refuge  and  Hospital,  except  the  Chief  Physician 
and  Chief  Surgeon  ;  and  all  officers  and  other  persons  so  employed  must  con 
form  to  his  directions,  and  must  be  governed  by  his  decisions  in  any  difficulties 
which  may  arise  in  the  discharge  of  their  respective  duties. 

12.  He  shall  endeavor  at  all  times  to  find  employment  for  such  of  the  in 
mates  as  are  able  to  work  ;  and  all  inmates  who  are  capable  of  working  shall 
be  employed,  as  well  to  inure  them  to  labor  as  to  contribute  to  their  support. 
'At  stated  hours,  they  shall  repair  to  their  proper  apartments,  or  places  on  the 

ground  allotted  for  them,  where  they  shall  wrork  in  an  orderly  manner,  and  at 
such  labor  and  as  many  hours  as  the  Superintendent  may  direct.  And  in  case 
any  inmate  able  to  labor  shall  refuse  to  comply  with  the  directions  of  the 


218  APPENDIX. 

Superintendent,  lie  may  confine  such  inmate  in  the  "  Lock-up,"  or  discharge 
such  inmate  from  the  Island.  I 

13.  When  notified  by  any  person  of  any  theft  within  the  Hospital  or 
Refuge,  or  the  grounds  connected  therewith,  he  shall  immediately  take  the 
necessary  steps  for  the  recovery  of  the  stolen  property,  and  to  secure  the  of 
fender  and  bring  him  to  justice;  and  he  must  at  all  times  maintain  a  strict 
police  throughout  the  Establishment.  He  shall  make  out  a  monthly  pay-roll 
of  every  person  employed,  including  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  with  the  name, 
occupations,  salary  or  wages,  amount  due,  etc.,  and  deliver  the  same  to  the 
Commissioners  at  the  close  of  every  month  for  approval. 

DEPUTY    SUPERINTENDENT. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Superintendent  to  select  and  employ  one  person, 
who  shall  be  styled  "  Deputy  Superintendent,"  who  shall  be  his  Principal 
Assistant,  and,  in  the  absence  of  the  Superintendent,  clothed  with  and  exercise 
all  his  power.  He  shall  reside  on  the  Island,  and  examine  daily  into  the  state 
of  the  Institutions ;  visit  every  apartment,  and  see  every  person  therein,  as 
often  as  good  order  and  necessity  require.  He  shall  exercise  a  general  super 
vision  and  direction  in  regard  to  the  discipline  and  police  of  the  Island,  and  to 
the  business  concerns  thereof ;  and  shall  superintend  all  the  business  carried  on, 
and  labor  done,  in  and  upon  the  buildings,  or  land  belonging  to  or  connected 
with  the  Island.  He  must  spend  the  whole  day  in  a  general  supervision  of  the 
Assistants  and  inmates,  direct  them  in  their  duties  and  labors,  and  report  to 
the  Superintendent  all  neglect  of  duty  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  Assistants ;  re 
ceive  reports  from  the  Assistants  of  all  disobedience  or  violation  of  the  Rules, 
and  report  the  same  to  the  Superintendent,  and  see  that  his  orders  and  direc 
tions  are  strictly  and  promptly  observed  ;  and  to  this  end  he  must  be  always 
present  on  the  Island,  by  day  and  by  night,  that  he  may  be  able,  during  the 
evening  and  night,  to  see  that  all  is  safe. 

It  shall  be  his  duty,  generally,  to  see  that  the  whole  Establishment  exhibits 
throughout  neatness,  good  order,  and  cleanliness. 

It  shall  be  his  duty  to  see  that  all  the  dead  deposited  in  the  Dead  house  are 
carefully  removed  for  burial  as  speedily  as  may  be  proper,  and  that  the  proper 
certificates  of  death  are  signed  by  a  Physician  of  the  Establishment. 

II.— THE  HOSPITAL. 

1.  There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  a  Chief 
Physician  and  a  Chief  Surgeon,  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  Medical  and  Sur 
gical  treatment  of  inmates  in  their  respective  departments,  and  shall  be  held 
responsible  by  the  Superintendent  and  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  for  the 
proper  performance  of  their  duties. 

2.  The  Chief  Physician  and  Assistant  Physicians  and  Surgeons  shall  reside 
on  the  Island,  in  a  residence  or  rooms  to  be  designated  by  the  Superintendent 
or  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 

3.  The  Chief  Surgeon  shall  visit  the  Island  at  least  every  other  day,  pre 
scribe  for  the  patients  under  his  care,  and  perform  such  operations  as  may  be 


APPENDIX.  219 

deemed  necessary  at  the  request  of  the  patient ;  but  no  surgical  operation  shall 
be  undertaken  without  the  consent  of  the  patient ;  and  all  capital  operations, 
endangering  the  life  or  the  limb  of  the  patient,  shall  be  decided  on  by  consul 
tations  with  the  Chief  Physician  and  the  Superintendent.  In  surgical  cases 
requiring  immediate  treatment,  the  Superintendent  is  required  to  send  for  the 
Chief  Surgeon,  and,  when  unable  to  obtain  his  services,  the  Superintendent  is 
authorized  to  call  in  Doctors  Valentine  Mott,  Willard  Parker,  Gurdon  Buck, 
Alfred  C.  Post,  John  Watson,  or  W.  H.  Van  Buren,  any  of  whom  may  perform 
such  surgical  operations  as  he  may  deem  necessary. 

4.  All  persons  afflicted  with  diseases  requiring  Medical  or  Surgical  treat 
ment,  shall  be  sent  to  their  respective  departments  by  the  Examining  Physician, 
and  no  patients  shall  be  transferred  from  the  Surgical  or  Medical  Wards  until 
cured  of  the  malady  for  which  they  were  admitted  into  it,  unless  subsequently 
attacked  with  a  strictly  pestilential  disease  ;  but  no  person  shall  be  kept  or  re 
tained  in  the  Hospital  Wards  who  does  not  require  Medical  or  Surgical  treatment, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Superintendent. 

5.  The  Chief  Physician  and  Chief  Surgeon  shall  appoint,  with  the  approval 
of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  such  number  of  Assistant  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  proper  care,  and  Medical  and 
Surgical  treatment  of  the  inmates  of  the  Institution. 

G.  The  Chief  Physician  and  Chief  Surgeon  shall  make  such  regulations  for 
the  sanitary  treatment  of  the  patients  and  inmates  as  may  be  found  necessary, 
and  prescribe  and  regulate  the  duties  of  the  Assistant  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 

7.  The  Assistant  Physicians  and  Surgeons  shall  be  subject  to  the  Rules  and 
Regulations  of  the  Institution,  and  shall  perform  all  duties  in  the  line  of  their 
profession  that  shall  be  required  of  them  by  their  superiors. 

8.  They    may  be  suspended  by  the    Superintendent,   Chief  Physician    or 
Chief  Surgeon,  and  be  removed  from  office  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Emigration,  and  no  assistant  removed  for  cause  shall  be  reappointed. 

9.  The  Physicians  and  Assistant  Surgeons  shall  make  one  regular  daily 
morning  visit  to  each  patient  in  the  wards  under  their  charge,  and  shall  also 
visit  those  afflicted  with  acute  diseases  as  often  as  may  be  necessary.     They  shall 
report  to  the  Superintendent,  in  writing,  or  to  his  Deputy,  every  Monday,  Wed 
nesday,  and  Friday,  the  names  of  all  convalescent,  or  partially  insane,  who  are 
able  to  work,  and,  in  case  they  neglect  this  duty,  the  Superintendent  may  use 
his  own  judgment  in  setting  those  to  work  whom  he  may  consider  able.     They 
shall  make  an  afternoon  visit  to  all  patients  received  during  the  day.     In  no  case 
shall  an  Assistant  Physician  or  Surgeon  absent  himself  from  the  Island,  without 
the  consent  of  the  Chief  Physician  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Superintendent. 
Non-observance  of  this  rule  will  be  considered  equivalent  to  a  resignation. 

10.  The  Chief  Physician  and  Chief  Surgeon  shall  regulate  the  diet  of  the 
patients  in  the  Hospital,  as  well  as  the  hours  of  eating,  and  the  mode  of  cooking 
the  food  ;  for  this  purpose,  a  regular  diet  table  shall  be  prepared,  which  shall 
be  revised  as  occasion  may  require,  to  be  signed  by  the  Superintendent. 


220  APPENDIX. 

11.  No  post-mortem  examination  shall  be  held  without  the  assent  of  the 
Chief  Medical  or^Surgical  Officer  of  the  department  to  which  the  patient  be 
longed,  and  the  Superintendent. 

13.  The  Physicians  and  Surgeons  shall  make  weekly  report  to  the  Superin 
tendent  of  all  admissions  and  discharges,  elopements,  births,  and  deaths  during 
the  preceding  week  ;  and  in  all  cases  of  smallpox,  or  other  contagious  diseases, 
they  shall  report  such  cases  at  the  Superintendent's  office  immediately,  that 
they  may  be  removed  without  delay  to  the  Marine  Hospital. 


REVISED  RULES  FOR  THE  STATE  AGENCIES  AND  COUNTIES. 

(Adopted  in  January,    1870.) 

To  ALL  ALMSHOUSE  COMMISSIONERS,  SUPERINTENDENTS,  AND  OVERSEERS 
OP  THE  POOR  OF  THE  SEVERAL  COUNTIES,  CITIES,  AND  TOWN6  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  NEW  YORK  : 

Notice  is  hereby  given,  that  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  by  virtue  of 
the  several  Acts  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  this  State  on  and  since  May  5, 
1847,  concerning  passengers  on  vessels  coming  to  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
all  other  Acts  passed  by  said  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  relation 
to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  have  established  the  following  Revised 
"  Rules  and  Regulations,"  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  right,  and  the 
amount  of  the  claim,  of  any  city,  town,  or  county,  to  indemnity  from  the  fund 
created  by  the  provisions  of  the  aforesaid  Acts,  for  the  support  of  any  persons, 
not  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  may  have  landed  at  the  City  of  New  York 
within  the  last  five  years. 

RULE   I. 

Applications  from  the  Superintendents  or  Overseers  of  the  Poor  of  any  city, 
town,  or  county,  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  for  indemnity  for  expenses 
incurred,  can  be  received  only  in  cases  of  persons  who  have  arrived  at  the  Port 
of  New  York  within  five  years  previous  to  the  date  of  their  application  for 
relief,  and  who  have  not  been  absent  from  this  State  for  twelve  consecutive 
months,  and  for  whom  commutation  money  was  paid  or  bonds  given. 

RULE   II. 

Applications  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  must  be  accompanied  by  a 
statement  of  the  name  of  the  person  in  reference  to  whom  it  is  made,  his  or  her 
age,  occupation,  last  place  of  residence  before  he  or  she  came  to  this  country, 
the  name  of  the  ship  or  vessel  by  which  he  or  she  arrived,  the  name  of  the 
Master  or  Commander  of  such  ship  or  vessel,  the  foreign  port  at  which  he  or 


APPENDIX.  221 

she  embarked,  and  the  date  of  his  or  her  arrival  at  New  York ;  all  of  which 
must  be  verified  by  the  oath  of  the  party  in  whose  behalf  it  is  made,  or,  in  case 
of  his  or  her  disability,  by  the  oath  of  any  other  person  cognizant  of  the  facts ; 
and  no  claim  for  indemnity  will  be  allowed,  unless  the  name  of  the  person  in 
respect  to  whom  indemnity  is  sought  shall  be  found  in  the  "  Report "  of  the 
Master  of  the  vessel  in  which  such  person  is  said  to  have  arrived,  such  "  Re. 
port  "  having  been  sworn  to  by  said  Master  before  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  on  file  in  the  Office  of  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 

RULE  III. 

Every  application  for  indemnity  must  be  accompanied  by  a  statement,  signed 
by  the  Relieving  Officer :  that  the  person  in  reference  to  whom  it  is  made  is 
unable  to  support  himself  or  herself ;  from  what  cause  his  or  her  inability  pro 
ceeds  ;  whether  such  inability  is  likely  to  be  temporary  or  permanent,  and  that 
he  or  she  has  no  relations  in  this  country  able,  at  their  own  charge,  to  support 
him  or  her. 

RULE  IV. 

Persons,  in  respect  to  whom  applications  for  indemnity  may  be  properly 
made,  must  be  sent  to  and  maintained  in  the  poor-house  of  the  city,  town,  or 
county  ;  they  must  be  required  to  work  under  the  same  circumstances  and  to 
the  same  extent  as  other  inmates  of  such  poor-houses ;  the  account  for  their 
support  must  be  rendered  at  the  cost  of  their  subsistence,  after  deducting  the 
value  of  the  work  which  they  may  be  able  to  do  and  have  performed — stating 
these  particulars — and  the  account  must  be  verified  by  the  oath  of  the  Superin 
tendent  or  Overseer  of  the  Poor  that  it  is  accurate  and  just. 

RULE  V. 

No  temporary  or  out-door  relief,  beyond  one  night's  board  and  lodging,  will 
be  allowed,  except  on  the  affidavit  of  the  Attending  Physician  that  the  person 
for  whose  relief  indemnity  is  sought  could  not  with  safety  be  removed  to  the 
County  House.  A  similar  affidavit  to  accompany  every  bill  containing  similar 
charges. 

RULE  VI. 

Superintendents  of  Poor,  having  claims  against  this  Commission  for  medical 
attendance,  must  state,  under  oath,  the  whole  amount  paid  for  such  attendance 
outside  the  County  House  during  the  year,  the  entire  number  who  received 
that  attendance,  and  how  many  of  them  were  emigrants  chargeable  to  the 
Commissioners  of  Emigration,  and  they  will  be  allowed  for,  pro  rata. 

RULE   VII. 

The  Commissioners  of  Emigration  will  reimburse  the  counties,  etc.,  etc.,  the 
actual  cost  of  support  of  emigrants  under  the  foregoing  "  Rules,"  but  will  not 
pay  for  the  services  of  Superintendents  or  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  or  of  any  other 
officer  not  appointed  by  said  Commissioners  of  Emigration. 


222  APPENDIX. 

RULE  VIII. 

Within  ten  days  after  the  first  day  of  every  month  a  report  must  be  made 
by  the  Superintendent  or  Overseer  of  the  Poor  of  each  city,  town,  or  county,  and 
be  submitted  to  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration,  containing  a  statement  of 
the  emigrants  who  have  been  admitted  and  discharged  during  the  previous 
month ;  the  date  of  these  admissions  and  discharges,  with  an  account  of  their 
present  condition  and  the  expense  incurred  in  their  behalf;  and  unless  this  rule 
is  strictly  complied  with,  no  expense  incurred  for  emigrants  previous  to  the  time 
herein  mentioned  will  be  allowed. 


Y.  AN  ACT 

FOR  THE  MORE  EFFECTUAL  PROTECTION  OF  EMIGRANTS  ARRIVING 
AT  THE  PORT  OF  NEW  YORK. 


CHAPTER  857. 

[Passed  June  5,  1868,  three-fifths  being  present.] 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do 
enact  as  follows : 

SEC.  1.  Each  Commissioner  of  Emigration  shall  have  power  to  administer 
an  oath  to,  and  examine  under  oath,  any  witness  respecting  any  complaint  made 
by  any  person  relative  to  the  ship  in  which  any  passenger  was  brought  to  the 
United  States,  or  the  treatment  of  any  passenger  during  the  voyage,  or  the 
food  or  drink  furnished  to  any  passenger  on  the  voyage,  or  the  death  on 
the  voyage  of  any  passenger  ;  but  to  entitle  the  same  to  be  read  upon  the  trial 
of  any  person  accused  of  any  crime  or  offence,  such  examination  shall  be  made 
in  the  presence  of  the  person  complained  of,  who  shall  have  a  right  to  cross- 
examine  every  such  witness. 

SEC.  2.  Such  Commissioner  shall  cause  such  testimony  to  be  reduced 
to  writing  before  him,  and  shall  sign  and  certify  the  same,  and  shall  deliver 
such  depositions,  so  signed  and  certified,  to  the  Clerk  of  the  County  of  New 
York,  who  shall  file  the  same  of  record  in  his  office,  and  shall  enter  a  docket  or 
minute  of  such  filing,  on  payment  of  a  fee  of  one  dollar. 

SEC.  3.  The  said  clerk  shall  deliver  a  certified  copy  of  such  deposition  to 
any  person  applying  for  the  same,  upon  payment  of  a  fee  of  twenty-five  cents 
for  such  certificate,  and  of  five  cents  for  every  folio  of  one  hundred  words 
therein  contained. 

SEC.  4.  Such  deposition  and  certified  copies  thereof  shall  be  evidence  in 
any  action  then  or  thereafter  pending,  between  any  of  the  passengers  on  such 
voyages,  and  the  said  ship,  or  her  owners,  master  or  charterers,  victualling, 
manning,  and  navigating  her  for  such  voyage,  upon  any  claim  involving  the 
facts  therein  testified  to. 

SEC.  5.  Before  taking  such  testimony,  such  Commissioners  shall  cause  at 
least  six  hours'  written  notice  thereof  to  the  said  vessel,  her  owners,  master,  or 
charterers,  to  be  served  on  the  owners  personally,  or  on  the  master  personally, 
or  by  handing  a  true  copy  thereof  to  the  person  found  in  charge  of  such  vessel. 
The  said  notice,  with  an  affidavit  of  service,  which  may  be  made  before  such 
Commissioner,  shall  be  attached  to  the  deposition  ;  but  such  notice  need  not 
name  the  owner,  master,  or  charterer,  and  such  owner,  master,  or  charterer,  or 
their  agent,  may  cross-examine  said  witness  ;  but  no  examination  shall  be 
adjourned  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours,  unless  by  reason  of  sickness  of  such 
witness. 


YI.  MEMBERS  OF  THE  COMMISSION 

FROM    ITS    ORGANIZATION,     1847,    TO     1870. 


1847. 

WM.  F.  HAVEMEYER,  President,    elected 

June  15,  1847. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK. 
JAMES  BOORMAN. 
JACOB  HARVEY,  died  May  10,  1848. 
ROBERT  B.  MINTURN. 
DAVID  C.  COLDEN. 
LEOPOLD    BIERWIRTII,  ex  officio,  Pres't 

German  Society. 
GREGORY  DILLON,  ex  officio,  Pres't  Irish 

Em.  Society. 
WILLIAM  V.  BRADY,  ex  officio,  Mayor  City 

of  New  York. 
FRANCIS  B.  STRYKER,  ex  officio,  Mayor 

City  of  Brooklyn. 

1848. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President,  elected 
March  1,  1848,  vice  Wrn.  F.  Havemeyer,  re 
signed. 

JAMES  BOORMAN,  term  expired  May  5, 1849. 

DAVID  C.  COLDEN. 

ROBERT  B.  MIN TURN. 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN,  vice  Win.  F.  Have 
meyer,  resigned  February  9,  1848. 

WILLIAM  McARDLE,  vice  Jacob  Harvey, 
died  May  10,  1848. 

LEOPOLD  BIERWIRTII,  ex  officio,  Pres't 
German  Society. 

GREGORY  DILLON,  ex  officio,  Pres't  Irish 
Em.  Society. 

WM.  F.  HAVEMEYER,  ex  officio,  Mayor 
City  of  New  York. 

FRANCIS  B.  STRYKER,  ex  officio,  Mayor 
City  of  Brooklyn. 

1849. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 
CYRUS  CURTISS,  appointed  June,  1849,  vice 

James  Boorman.  term  expired. 
DAVID  C.  COLDEN. 
ROBERT  B.  MINTURN. 
ANDREW  CARRIGAN,  resigned  Dec.,  1849. 
WILLIAM  McARDLE. 

GEO.  E.  KUNHARDT,  Pres't  German  Soc'y. 
GREGORY  DILLON,  Pres't  Irish  Em.  Soc'y. 
CALEB  S.  WOODHULL,  Mayor  City  of  New 

York. 
EDWD.  COPELAND,  Mayor  City  of  Br'klyn. 

1850. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

ROBERT  B.  MINTURN. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

WM.  McARDLE,  term  expired  May,  1851. 


ABRAM  R.  LAWRENCE,  appointed  vice 
David  C.  Colden,  died  April,  1850. 

JOHN  E.  DEVELIN,  appointed  vice  Andrew 
Carrigan.  resigned  Dec.,  1849. 

ADOLPH  RODEWALD,  Pres't  German  Soc'y. 

GREGORY  DILLON.  Pres't  Irish  Em.  Soc'v. 

CALEB  S.  WOODHULL,  Mayor  City  of  New 
York. 

SAMUEL  SMITH,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1851. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

JOHN  E.  DEVELIN,  resigned  Dec.,  1851. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

ABRAM  R.  LAWRENCE,  resigned  Dec.,  1851. 

CHARLES  II.  MARSHALL,  vice  William 
McArdle,  term  expired. 

ELIAS  HICKS,  vice  Robert  B.  Minturn,  re 
signed  May,  1851. 

FERDINAND  KARCK,  Pres't  German  Soc'y. 

GREGORY  DILLON,  Pres't  Irish  Em.  Soc'y. 

A.  C.  KINGSL  AND,  Mayor  City  of  New  York. 

CONKLLN  BRUSH,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 


1852. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

CHARLES  II.  MARSHALL. 

JAMES  KELLY,  appointed  vice  Abram  R. 
Lawrence,  resigned  Dec.,  1851. 

GEORGE  W.  BLUNT,  appointed  vice  John 
E.  Develin.  resigned  Dec..  1851. 

CALEB  BARSTOW,  appointed  vice  Elias 
Hicks,  resigned  Nov..  1852. 

JOHN  C.  ZIMMERMANN,  Sen.,  Pres't  Ger 
man  Society. 

GREGORY  DILLON,  Pres't  Irish  Em.  Soc'y. 

A.  C.  KINGSL  AND,  Mayor  City  of  New  York. 

CONKLIN  BRUSH,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1853. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

CHARLES  H.  MARSHALL. 

THOMAS  DUNLAP,  appointed  vice  Caleb 
Barstow,  term  expired  May,  1853. 

TERENCE  DONNELLY,  vice  George  W. 
Blunt,  nomination  withdrawn. 

JAMES  KELLY. 

JOHN  A.  KENNEDY,  vice  Cyrus  Curtiss,  re 
signed  Oct.,  1853. 

JOHN  C.  ZIMMERMANN,  Sen.,  Pres't  Ger 
man  Society. 

GREGORY  DILLON.  Pres't  Irish  Em.  Soc'y. 

JACOB  A.  WESTERVELT,  Mavor  City  of 
New  York. 

EDWD.  A.  LAMBERT.  Mayor  City  of  Br'klyn. 


APPENDIX. 


225 


1854. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

CHARLES  II.  MARSHALL. 

JAMES  KELLY. 

JOHN  A.  KENNEDY. 

THOMAS  DUXLAP. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY,  vice  Terence  Donnelly, 

resigned  May,  1853. 

R.  A.  WITTHAUS,  Pres't  German  Society. 
ANDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
JACOB/.  WESTERVELT,  Mayor  City  of 

EDWD.  A.  LAMBERT,  Mayor  City  of  Br'klyn. 
1855. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLAXCK,  President. 

JAMES  KELLY. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

E.  D.  MORGAX.  appointed  May  7,  1855,  vice 
Chas.  II.  Marshall,  resi  >ned. 

JOHX  A.  KENNEDY. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMIXG.  appointed  April  25, 
1855,  vice  Thos.  Dunlap,  nomination  with 
drawn. 

GUSTAV  SCHWAB. 

RUDOLPH  GARRIGUE,  President  German 
Society,  vice  Gustav  Schwab,  resigned  in 
March. 

ANDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 
Society. 

FERXA'XDO  WOOD,  Mayor  City  of  X.  York. 

GEORGE  HALL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn.  t 

1856. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLAXCK,  President. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

JOHX  V.  CUMMIXG. 

E.  D.  MORGAX. 

CYRUS  CTRTISS,  appointed  March,  1856, 

vice  James  Kelly,  resigned. 
WILSON  G.  HUNT,  appointed  May,  1856, 

vice  John  A.  Kennedy,  resigned. 
RUDOLPH  GARRIGUE,  President  German 

Society. 
ANDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 

FERX ANDO  WOOD,  Mayor  City  of  X.  York. 
GEORGE  HALL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1857. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

JOHX  P.  CUMMIXG. 

E.  D.  MORGAX. 

WILSON  G.  HUXT. 

RUDOLPH  GARRIGUE,  President  German 

Societv. 
ANDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
DAXIEL  F.  TIEMAXX,  Mavor  City  of  Xew 

York. 
S.  S.  POWELL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1858. 

GULIAX  C'.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMING. 

WILSON  G.  HUXT. 

EDWIX  D.  MORGAN. 


WM.  JELLTXGHAUS.  Pres't  German  Soc'y. 
AXDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
DAXIEL  F.  TIEMAXX,  Mayor  City  of  Xew 

York. 
SAM.  S.  POWELL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1859. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

CYRUS   CURTISS. 

JOHX  P.  CUMMIXG. 

WILSOX  G.  HUXT. 

A.  A.  LOW,  appointed  vice  E.  D.  Morgan,  re 
signed  Dec.,  1858. 

WM.  JELLINGHAUS,  Pres't  German  Socy. 

AXDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 
Society. 

GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor  City  of  X.  York. 

SAM.  S.  POWELL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

i860. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMING. 

WILSOX  G.  HUXT. 

A.  A.  LOW. 

WM.  JELLIXGHAUS.  Pres't  German  Socy. 

AXDREW  CARRIGAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 

GEORGE  OPDYKE.  Mayor  City  of  X.  York. 
SAM.  S.  POWELL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1861. 

JGULIAN  C.  VERPLAXCK,  President. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

A.  A.  LOW. 

WILSON  G.  HUXT. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMIXG. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

WM.  JELLINGHAUS.  Pres't  German  Socy. 

AXDREW  CARRIGAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 

GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor  City  of  N.  York. 
SAM.  S.  POWELL,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1862. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLAXCK,  President. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

JOHX  P.  CUMMIXG. 

WILSON  G.  HUNT. 

A.  A.  LOW. 

E.  VpN  DER  HEYDT,  President  German 

Society. 
AXDREW  CARRIGAX,  President  Irish  Em. 

GEORGE"  OPDYKE,  Mayor  City  of  X.  York. 
MARTIX    KALBFLEISCII,   Mayor  City  of 
Brooklyn. 

1863. 

GULIAX  C.  VERPLAXCK,  President. 
CYRUS  CURTISS. 
ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 
JOHX  P.  CUMMING. 
WILSOX  G.  HUNT. 
A.  A.  LOW. 

E.  VOX  DER  IIEYDT,  President  German 
Society. 


226 


APPENDIX. 


ANDREW  CARRIGAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
C.   GODFREY  GUNTHER,  Mayor  City  of 

New  York. 
Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1864. 

GULTAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

CYRUS  CURT1SS. 

JOHN  P.  GUMMING. 

WILSON  G.  HUNT. 

A.  A.  LOW. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

A.  SCHNIEWIND,  Pres't  German  Society. 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN.  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
C.   GODFREY  GUNTHER,  Mayor  City  of 

New  York. 
ALFRED  M.  WOOD,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1865. 

GULTAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

CYRUS  CURTISS. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMING. 

WILSON  G.  HUNT. 

A.  A.  LOW. 

ELIJAH  F.  PURDY. 

PHILIP  BISSINGER,  Pres't  German  Society. 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
C.   GODFREY  GUNTHER,  Mayor  City  of 

Nfcw  York. 
ALFRED  M.  WOOD,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1866. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 

WILSON  G.  HUNT,  Vice-President. 

F.  S.  WINSTON,  vice  Cyrus  Curtiss,  resigned 
April,  18(36. 

CYltUS  II.  LOUTREL,  vice  A.  A.  Low,  re 
signed  April.  1806. 

ISAAC  T.  SMITH,  vice  Elijah  F.  Purdy,  died 
January,  1866. 

JOHN  P.  CUMMTNG. 

PHILIP  BISSINGER,  Preset  German  Society. 

RICHARD  O'GORMAN,  President  Irish  Em. 
Society. 

JOHN  T.  HOFFMAN,  Mayor  City  of  New 
York. 

WILLIAM  BOOTH,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1867. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 
F.  S.  WINSTON,  Vice-Presideut. 


CYRUS  II.  LOUTREL. 

ISAAC  T.  SMITH. 

FRIEDRICH  KAPP,  vice  John  P.  Cummins, 
resigned  Jan.,  1867. 

P.  McELROY,  vice  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  term  ex 
pired  June.  1867. 

PHILIP  BISSINGER,  Preset  German  Society. 

RICHARD  O'GORMAN,  President  Irish  Bin. 
Society. 

JOHN  T.  HOFFMAN,  Mayor  City  of  New 
York. 

WILLIAM  BOOTH,  Mayor  City  of  Brooklyn. 

1 868. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 
F.  S.  WINSTON.  Vice-President. 
CYRUS  H.  LOUTREL. 
ISAAC  T.  SMITH 
FRIEDRICH  KAPP. 

p.  MCELROY. 

PHILIP  BISSIXGER.  Pros' t  German  Society. 
RICHARD  O'GORMAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 
JOHN  T.  HOFFMAN,  Mayor  City  of  New 

York. 
MARTIN   KALBFLEISCII,  Mayor    City  of 

Brooklyn. 

1869. 

GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK,  President. 
F.  S.  WINSTON,-Vice-Presideut. 
CYRUS  H.  LOUTREL. 
ISAAC  T.  SMITH. 
FRIEDRICII  KAPP. 

p.  MCELROY. 

PHILIP  BISSINGER.  Pres't  German  Society. 
RICHARD  O'GORMAN,  President  Irish  Em. 

Society. 

A.  OAKEY  HALL.  Mayor  City  of  New  York. 
MARTIN    KALBFLEISCH,    Mayor    City  «f 

Brooklyn. 

1870. 

GULIAN  C:  VERPLANCK.  President. 
F.  S.  WINSTON,  Vice-President. 
CYRUS  II.  LOUTREL. 
ISAAC  T.  SMITH. 
FRIEDRICH  KAPP. 

p.  MCELROY. 

PHILIP  BISSINGER.  Pros' t  German  Society. 
JAMES  LYNCH,  President  Irish  Em.  Society. 
A.  OAKEY  HALL.  Mayor  City  of  New  York. 
MARTIN  KALBFLEISCH,  Mayor  City  of 
Brooklyn. 


VII.  STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


Statement  of  the  number  of  Alien  Passengers  arriving  in  the  United  States  lysea 
from  foreign  countries,  from  September  30,  1819,  to  December  81,  1860. 


Year. 

Males. 

Females. 

Sex 
not  stated. 

Total. 

Year  ending   Sept.  30, 

1820, 

4,871 

2,393 

1,121 

8,385 

1821, 

4,651 

1,636 

2,840 

9,127 

1822, 

3,816 

1,013 

2,082 

6,911 

1823, 

3,598 

848 

1,908 

6,354 

1824, 

4,706 

1,393 

1,813 

7,912 

1825, 

6,917 

2,959 

823 

10,199 

1826, 

7,702 

3,078 

57 

10,837 

1827, 

11,803 

5,939             1,133 

18,875 

1828, 

17,261 

10,060 

61 

27,382 

1829, 

11,303 

5,112 

6,105 

22,520 

1880. 

G,439 

8.1  Jo 

13,748 

23,322 

1831, 

H909 

7,724 

22G33 

1832, 

34,596 

18,583 

53,179 

Quarter  ending  Dec.  31, 

1832, 

4,691 

2,512 

"  100 

7,303 

Year   ending   Dec.   31, 

1833, 

41,546 

17,094 

58,640 

1834, 

38,796 

22,540 

4,029 

65,365 

1835, 

28,196 

17,027 

151 

45,374 

1836, 

47,865 

27,553 

824 

76,242 

1837, 

48,837 

27,653 

2,850 

79,340 

1838, 

23,474 

13,685 

1,755 

38,914 

1839, 

42,932 

25,125 

12 

68,069 

1840, 

52,883 

31,132 

51 

84,066 

1841, 

48,082 

32,031 

176 

80,289 

1842, 

62,277 

41,907 

381 

104,565 

First  three  quarters  of 

1843, 

30,069 

22,424 

3 

52,496 

Year  ending   Sept.  30, 

1844, 

44,431 

34,184 

.  . 

78,615 

1845, 

65,015 

48,115 

1,241 

114,371 

1846, 

87,777 

65,742 

897 

154,416 

1847, 

136,086 

97,917 

965 

234,968 

1848, 

133,906 

92,149 

472 

226,527 

1849, 

177,232 

119,280 

512 

297,024 

Year  ending  Sept.  30, 
Quarter  ending  Dec.  31, 

1850, 
1850, 

196,331 
32,990 

112,635 
26,805 

1,038 
181 

310,004 
•  59,976 

Year  ending  Dec.   31, 

1851, 

217,181 

162,219 

66 

379,466 

1852, 

212,469 

157,696 

1,438 

371,603 

1853, 

207,958 

160,615 

72 

368,645 

1854, 

256,177 

171,656 

427,833 

1855, 

115,307 

85,567 

3 

200,877 

1856, 

115,846 

84,590 

200,436 

1857, 

146,215 

105,091 

251,306 

1858, 

72,824 

50,002 

"  300 

123,126 

1859, 

69,161 

51,640 

481 

121,282 

1860, 

88,477 

65,077 

86 

153,640 

Total, 

2,977,603 

2,035,536 

49,275 

5,062,414 

228 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  aggregates  also  exhibit  the  number  of  arrivals  of  passengers 
from  foreign  countries  during  periods  of  nearly  ten  years  each,  and  thus  indi 
cate  the  accelerated  progress  of  immigration  : 


Periods. 

Passengers  of 
Foreign  Birth. 

American  and 
Foreign. 

In  the  10  years  ending  September  30,  1829,  .  . 
In  the  1014;  years  ending  December  31,  1839,  . 
In  the  9%  years  ending  September  30,  1849,  . 
In  the  11^4  years  ending  December  31,  1800,  . 

128,502 
538,381 
1,427,337 
2,968,194 

151,636 
572,716 
1,479,478 
3,255,591 

In  the  41 1£  years  ending  December  31,  1860, 


5,062,414 


Adjusting  the  returns  to  the  periods  of  the  decennial  census,  by  the  aid  of 
the  quarterly  reports,  we  find  very  nearly  the  following  numbers : 


Three  Census  Periods. 


In  the  10  years  previous  to  June  1, 1840, 
Do.  "  do.  do.  1850, 
Do.  do.  do.  1860, 


Passengers  of 
Foreign  Birth. 


552,000 
1,558,300 
2,707,624 


Distribution  of  Ages  on  Arrival. 


Number  of  Ages  stated  from  1820  to  I860. 

Proportions. 

Ages. 

Males. 

Females. 

Total. 

Males. 

Females. 

Total. 

Under  5,    . 

218,417 

200,676 

419,093 

4-143 

3-806 

7-949 

5  and  under  10, 

199,704 

180,606 

380,310 

3-788 

3-425 

7-213 

10  and  under  15, 

194,580 

166,833 

361,413 

3-691 

3-164 

6-855 

15  and  under  20, 

404,388 

349,755 

754,093 

-  7-669 

6-633 

14-302 

20  and  under  25, 

669,853 

428,974 

1,098,827 

12-706 

8-136 

20-842 

25  and  under  30, 

576,822 

269,554 

846,376 

10-940 

5-112 

16-052 

30  and  under  35, 

352,619 

163,778 

516,397 

6-688 

3-106 

9-794 

35  and  under  40, 

239,468 

114,165 

353,633 

4-542 

2-165 

6-707 

40  and  upwards, 

342,022 

200,322 

542,344 

6-487 

3-799 

10-286 

Total, 

3,197,823 

2,074,663 

5,272,486 

60-654 

39-346 

100-000 

APPENDIX. 


229 


lotal  Proportions  for  Different  Periods. 


Under  5, 


Ages. 

1820  to  1830. 

1830  to  1840. 

1840  to  1850. 

1850  to  1860. 

1820  to  1860. 

6-904 

8-511 

8-284 

7-674 

7-949 

nder  10, 

5-763 

7-552 

7-434 

7-077 

7-213 

nder  15, 

4-568 

7-817 

7-564 

6-328 

6-855 

nder  20, 

11-052 

11-830 

13-059 

15-762 

14-302 

nder  25, 

22-070 

19-705 

21-518 

20-617 

20-842 

nder  30, 

19-574 

16-661 

15-722 

15-944 

16052 

nder  35, 

10-194 

10-215 

9-914 

9-609 

9-794 

nder  40, 

8-171 

7-875 

6-563 

6-466 

6-707 

p  wards, 

11-704 

9-834 

9-942 

10-523 

10-286 

il,  . 

100-000 

100-000 

100-000 

100-000 

100-000 

Occupation,  of  Passengers  arriving  in  the  United  States  from  foreign  countries 
during  the  forty-one  years  ending  with  1860. 


Occupation. 

1820  to  1830. 

1831  to  1840. 

1841  to  1850. 

1851  to  1860. 

1820  to  1860. 

Merchants, 

19,434 

41,881 

46,388 

124,149 

231,853 

Farmers,    . 

15,005 

88,240 

256,880 

404,712 

764,837 

Mechanics, 

6,805 

56,582 

164,411 

179,726 

407,524 

Mariners,  . 

4,995 

8,004 

6,398 

10,087 

29,484 

Miners, 

341 

368 

1,735 

37,523 

39,967 

Laborers,   . 

10,280 

53,169 

281,229 

527,639 

872,317 

Shoemakers, 

1,109 

1,966 

63 

336 

3,474 

Tailors, 

983 

2,252 

65 

334 

3,634 

Seamstresses     and  [ 
Milliners,                ) 

413 

1,672 

2,096 

1,065 

5,246 

Actors, 

183 

87 

233 

85 

588 

Weavers  and  Spin-) 
ners,                        J 

2,937 

6,600 

1,303 

717 

11,557 

Clergymen, 

415 

932 

1,559 

1,420 

4,326 

Clerks, 

882 

1,143 

1,065 

792 

3,882 

Lawyers,    . 

244 

461 

831 

1,140 

2,676 

Physicians, 

805 

1,959 

2,116 

2,229 

7,109 

Engineers, 

226 

311 

654 

825 

2,016 

Artists, 

139 

513 

1,223 

615 

2,490 

Teachers,   . 

275 

267 

832 

154 

1,528 

Musicians,  . 

140 

165 

236 

188 

729 

Printers,    . 

179 

472 

14 

40 

705 

Painters,    . 

232 

369 

8 

38 

647 

Masons, 

793 

1,435 

24 

58 

2,310 

Hatters,      . 

137 

114 

1 

4 

256 

Manufacturers,  . 

175 

107 

1,833 

1,005 

3,120 

Millers,      . 

199 

189 

33 

210 

631 

Butchers,  . 

329 

432 

76 

108 

945 

Bakers, 

583 

569 

28 

92 

1,272 

Servants,    . 

1,327 

2,571 

24,538 

21,058 

49,494 

Other  Occupations,    . 

5,466 

4,004 

2,892 

13,844 

26,206 

Not  stated, 

101,442 

363,252 

969,411 

1,544,494 

2,978,599 

Total,  . 

176473 

640,086 

1,768,175 

2,874,687 

5,459,421 

Country  where  lorn. 


Countries. 

1820  to  1830. 

1831  to  1840. 

1841  to  1850. 

1851  to  1860. 

1820  to  1860. 

England,    . 

15,837 

7,611 

32,092 

247,125 

302,665 

Ireland, 

27,106 

29,188 

162,332 

748,740 

967,366 

Scotland,    . 

3,180 

2,667 

3,712 

38,331 

47,890 

Wales, 

170 

185 

1,261 

6,319 

7,935 

Gt.  Britain  and  Irel'd, 

35,534 

243,540 

848,366 

297,578 

1,425,018 

Total  U.  Kingdom, 

81,827 

283,191 

1,047,763 

1,338,093 

2,750,874 

France, 

8,868 

45,575 

77,262 

76,358 

208,063  ' 

Spain, 

2,616 

2,125 

2,209 

9,298 

16,248 

Portugal,  . 

180 

829 

550 

1,055 

2,614 

Belgium,   . 

28 

22 

5,074 

4,738 

9,862 

Prussia, 

146 

4,250 

12,149 

43,887 

60,432 

Germany   . 

7,583 

148,204 

422,477 

907,780 

1,486,044 

Holland,     . 

1,127 

1,412 

8,251 

10,789 

21,579 

Denmark,  . 

189 

1,063 

539 

3,749 

5,540 

Norway  and  Sweden, 

94 

1,201 

13,903 

20,931 

36,129 

Poland, 

21 

369 

105 

1,164 

1,659 

Russia,        .         .    •     . 

89 

277 

551 

457 

1,374 

Turkey,      .         .         . 

21 

7 

59 

83 

170 

Switzerland, 

3,257 

4,821 

4,644 

25,011 

37,733 

Italy,. 

389 

2,211 

1,590 

7,012 

11,202 

Greece, 

20 

49 

16 

31 

116 

Sicily, 

17 

35 

79 

429 

560 

Sardinia,    . 

32 

H 

201 

1,790 

2,030 

Corsica, 

2 

5 

2 

t\ 

9 

Malta, 

1 

35 

78 

5 

119 

Iceland, 

10 

10 

Europe,      .         .      •  . 

o 

51 

473 

526 

British  America, 

*   2,486 

13,624 

41,723 

59,309 

117,142 

South  America, 

542 

856 

3,579 

1,224 

6,201 

Central  America, 

107 

44 

368 

449 

968 

Mexico, 

4,818 

6,599 

3,271 

3,078 

17,766 

West  Indies, 

»   3,998 

12,301 

13,528 

10,660 

40,487 

China, 

3 

8 

35 

41,397 

41,443 

East  Indies, 

9 

39 

36 

43 

127 

Persia, 

7 

15 

22 

Asia,  .... 

3 

1 

4 

19 

27 

Liberia,      . 

1 

8 

cr 

5 

19 

Egypt, 

4 

4 

Morocco,     . 

4 

l 

. 

'       5 

Algiers, 

2 

2 

Barbary  States, 

4 

4 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  . 

2 

. 

.  . 

2 

Africa, 

10 

"36 

47 

186 

279 

Azores, 

13 

29 

327 

2,873 

3,242 

Canary  Islands, 

271 

6 

1 

8 

286 

Madeira  Islands, 

70 

52 

3 

189 

314 

Cape  Verd  Islands,    . 

4 

15 

3 

7 

29 

Sandwich  Islands,     . 

1 

6 

28 

44 

79 

Society  Islands, 

.  . 

1 

6 

7 

Australia,  . 

2 

'  3 

104 

109 

St.  Helena,         .  '  '    . 

1 

3 

13 

17 

Isle  of  France,   . 

0 

1 

3 

South  Sea  Islands,     . 

79 

,    79 

New  Zealand,    . 

4 

4 

Not  stated,         .    '  :•  . 

32,892 

69,799 

52,725 

25,438 

180,854 

Total  Aliens, 

151,824 

599,125 

1,713,251 

2,598,214 

5,062,414 

United  States,    . 

24,649 

40,961 

54,924 

276,473 

397,007 

Total,       '    . 

176,473 

640,086 

1,768,175 

2,874,687 

5,459,421 

APPENDIX. 


231 


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232 


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APPENDIX. 


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234 


APPENDIX. 


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235 


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236 


APPENDIX. 


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APPENDIX. 


237 


STATEMENT 

Showing  Amount  Reimbursed  ly  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  to  the  City 
and  County  of  New  York,  and  the  several  other  Cities  and  Counties  in  the 
State  of  Neic  York,  and  to  various  Charitable  Institutions  and  Hospitals  in, 
the  State,  for  Care  and  Support  of  Emigrants,  from  May  5, 1847,  to  December 
31. 1869,  inclusive. 


Year. 

City  of  New  York. 

Institutions. 

Counties. 

Total. 

1847 

$2,333  36 

$280  00 

$2,270  68 

$4,884  04 

1848 

2,540  00 

1,487  93 

18,421  95 

22,449  88 

1849 

6,306  98 

1,857  59 

37,400  95 

45,565  52 

1850 

10,832  75 

2,650  71 

26,736  40 

40,219  86 

1851 

13,042  94 

8,784  40 

67,781  17 

89,608  51 

1852 

10,912  97 

12,755  08 

64,763  90 

88,431  95 

1853 

20,000  00 

9,737  01 

122,135  16 

151,872  17 

1854 

27,525  36 

9,117  50 

78,532  85 

115,175  71 

1855 

. 

8,645  56 

43,181  17 

51,826  73 

1856 

.  . 

10,528  07 

13,439  97 

23,968  04 

1857 

6,680  16 

85,563  85 

92,244  01 

1858 

8,002  73 

16,893  16 

24,895  89 

1859 

206  29 

6,173  92 

23,555  75 

29,935  96 

1860 

753  81 

7,001  68 

51,113  59 

58,869  08 

1861 

2,237  94 

6,373  36 

11,244  63 

19.855  93 

1862 

1,051  11 

4,545  83 

10,419  12 

16,016  06 

1863 

810  76 

5,402  96 

9,578  50 

15,792  23 

1864 

2,453  62 

5,207  09 

11,689  00 

19,349  71 

1865 

5,370  36 

8,950  38 

17,944  05 

32,264  79 

1866 

2,814  10 

9,201  70 

22,980  39 

34,996  19 

1867 

1,689  59 

10,095  99 

22,160  29 

33,945  87 

1868 

63,976  08 

12,920  72 

24,840  40 

101,737  20 

1869 

18,986  76 

11,971  59 

17,788  31 

48,746  66 

$193,844  78 

.$168,371  96 

$800,435  24 

$1,162,651  98 

238  APPENDIX. 


WAGES* 

I. — The  Average  Wages  paid  at  the  Labor  Exchange  for  Unskilled  Labor  during 
the  Tears  1868  and  1869. 

Males,  per  Month.  Females,  per  Month. 


1868.      1869.  1868.     18G9. 

January $10  00  $9  00  $8  00  $9  00 

February 10  50  11  50  8  50          9  25 

March 12  50  11  50  8  50  10  00 

April 15  00  18  50  9  00  10  00 

May 18  00  19  25  9  00  10  00 

June 20  00  23  75  9  00  10  00 

July 24  00  24  00  9  50  10  00 

August 16  00  17  25  9  00  10  00 

September 14  00  14  25  9  00  10  00 

October 12  00  14  50  9  50  10  00 

November     .        .        .        .        •  12  00  13  25  9  00          9  50 

December 10  00  10  00  8  50          9  00 

The  wages  for  common  laborers  varied  from  $1  75  to  $2  per  day,  without 
board. 

*  The  following  circular  letter  is  from  time  to  time  published  by  the  Chief  Clerk  of  the 
Labor  Exchange,  for  the  information  of  all  employers  who  would  avail  themselves  of  the  advan 
tages  of  this  institution : 

"1.  The  'Labor  Exchange,'  lately  organized  by  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  is  a  free  market  for  emigrant  labor,  open  to  all  employers  from  all  parts  of 
the  United  States.  While  prcouring  prompt  and  remunerative  employment  to  emigrants,  it 
offers  to  employers  superior  opportunities  to  choose  suitable  employees  out  of  the  large  and 
varied  supply  of  applicants  for  work  daily  resorting  to  this  office. 

"  2.  This  office  charges  no  fees,  commissions,  nor  any  other  remuneration  from  employer 
or  employee. 

"  It  furnishes  to  employers  not  only  domestic  help,  agricultural  or  unskilled  labor,  but  also 
all  kind  of  skilled  laborers,  mechanics,  artisans,  etc. 

"  3.  Land  speculators  are  excluded  from  the  privileges  of  this  office  ;  and  all  propositions 
contemplating  the  sale  or  leasing  of  land  to  emigrants  will  be  rejected. 

"  4.  Employers  applying  at  this  office  must  be  either  known  to  the  Superintendent,  or  pro 
duce  satisfactory  references. 

"  Agents  must  be  duly  authorized  by  their  principals,  and  well  recommended. 

"  5.  This  office  does  not  make  contracts  for  emigrants  with  the  employer  ;  it  does  not  fix 
the  amount  of  wages  nor  the  term  of  service,  nor  prescribe  any  other  condition  of  the  contract ; 
it  leaves  all  these  matters  to  be  settled  by  the  voluntary  agreement  of  the  parties  immediately 
interested,  and  assists  them  only  by  giving  all  needful  information  and  advice. 

"  C.  Employers  must  provide  for  and  take  care  of  the  transportation  for  their  employees  to 
the  respective  places  of  destination.  If  means  sufficient  to  cover  travelling  expenses  are  re 
mitted  to  this  office,  with  the  request  to  send  hired  help  to  the  applicant,  wre  shall  see  to  it  that 
the  employee  is  properly  started  on  his  voyage.  The  expenses  and  risk  of  transportation  to 
distant  places  will  be  greatly  reduced,  if  employers  residing  in  the  country,  and  desiring  emi 
grant  help,  would  club  together,  and  appoint  one  of  their  number  employing  and  forwarding 
agent  for  all  the  members  of  the  club." 


APPENDIX. 


239 


II. —  Wages  paid  for  Skilled  Labor  in  New  York  City  during  the  Year  1869. 


Apprentices  . 

Bakers   . 

Barbers  . 

Brusbmakers. 

Barkeepers     . 

Basketmakers 

Blacksmiths  . 

Bookbinders  . 

Bricklayers    . 

Brewers . 

Brassfinishers 

Butcbers 

Cabinetmakers 

Cooks     . 

Capmakers 

Chemists 

Carpenters     . 

Carriagemakers 

Cbeesemakers 

Cigarmakers. 

Confectioners 

Cutlers  . 

Coopers  . 

Dyers 

Deckbands 

Druggists 

Engravers 

Engineers 

Florists  . 

Filecutters      . 

Furriers . 

Frescoe-painters 

Gilders  . 

Gardeners 

Glaziers 

Gasfitters 

Goldsmiths    . 

Gunsmiths 

Hatters  . 

Heaters  . 

Harnessmakers 

Ironmoulders 

Locksmiths    . 

Lithographers 

Machinists 


$4  to  $5  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$6  to  $14  per  month,  and  board. 

$9  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$2  to  $2  50  per  day  ;  no  board. 
$10  to  $30  per  month,  and  board. 

$8  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$2  to  $3  50  per  day  ;  no  board. 

$7  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$5  per  day  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $25  per  month,  and  board. 
$10  to  $20  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$10  to  $20  per  month,  and  board. 

$1  50  to  $3  per  day ;  no  board. 
$25  to  $100  per  month,  and  board. 

$8  to  $12  per  week,  and  board. 
$10  to  $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$3  to  $3  50  per  day  ;  no  board. 

$2  50  to  $3  per  day  ;  no  board. 
$20  per  month,  and  board. 

$8  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$30  to  $50  per  month,  and  board. 
$12  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$18  to  $20  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$20  to  $25  per  month,  and  board. 
$25  to  $30  per  month,  and  board 
$18  to  $25  per  month,  and  board 
$15  to  $35  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $25  per  month,  and  board 
$12  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$9  to  $14  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $35  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$10  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $25  per  month,  and  board. 

$8  to  $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$12  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$10  to  $30  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$10  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $20  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$25  to  $30  per  month,  and  board. 
$10  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

$8  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$12  to  $25  per  week  ;  no  board. 
$15  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 


240  APPENDIX. 

Masons $5  per  day  ;  no  board. 

Miners 90  cents  and  $1  per  ton  ;  no  board. 

Millers $12  to  $18  per  month,  and  board. 

Polishers $10  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Paperhangers        .        .        .        .        .        .  $10  to  $15  per  week ;  no  board. 

Puddlers $2  per  day  ;  no  board. 

Plasterers $5  per  day  ;  no  board. 

Plumbers $2  50  to  $3  per  day ;  no  board. 

Printers $12  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Porters $8  to  $15  per  week ;  no  board. 

Painters $10  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Ropemakers $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Slate-roofers $2  50  to  $3  per  day  ;  no  board. 

Saddlers $12  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Shoemakers  -, $9  to  $15  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Soapmakers $10  to  $12  per  week ;  no  board. 

Spinners $9  to  $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Stonecutters $5  per  day  ;  no  board. 

Tailors $10  to  $30  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Tanners $15  per  month,  and  board. 

Tinsmiths $10  to  $15  per  week ;  no  board. 

Turners $10  to  $18  per  week ;  no  board. 

Upholsterers $12  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Varnishers $9  to  $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Waiters $30  per  month,  and  board. 

Watchmakers $15  to  $20  per  week ;  no  board. 

Weavers $9  to  $12  per  week ;  no  board. 

Wheelwrights $10  to  $12  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Woodcarvers $12  to  $18  per  week  ;  no  board. 

Winecoopers $30  per  month,  and  board. 

Wagonsmiths $10  to  $18  per  week ;  no  board. 


APPENDIX. 


241 


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